9
7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 1/9 öffentlichung in:  V.  Karagheorgis -  J.  Taifacos  (Hrsgg.),  Th e  World of  Herodotus. Proceedings  of  an  International  Conference   at  th e  Foundation  Anastasios  G.  Leventis,  Nicosia,  September 18-21, 2003 an d  organized  by  th e  Foundation  Anastasios  G.  Leventis   th e  Faculty  of  Letters,  University  of  Cyprus, Nicosia  2004,  S.  159-167 Herodotus and  the  Major  Sanctuaries  of  the  Greek  World 1  Peter Funke  In  1981,  John  Ferguson  published an  article  entitled  'Herodotus as  a  source  for  the  study  of  Greek  religion'. This  article was  typical  of  a  renewed interest  in  problems connected  with religion  that  was  evident  also  among  classicists in  those  years.  With  the  material  he  gathered, Ferguson  showed  in  an  impressive way  th e  richness  of  Information  regarding  the  history  of  religion enclosed  in  Herodotus'  Histories. No  other literary work  from  the  Archaic  or  Classical  age  offers  a  comparably  broad  spectrum  of  detailed  evidence,  none  opens such  a  wide  perspective on  th e  diversity  not  only  of  Greek but  also  of  alien reli- gions. In  recent times,  Herodotus'  ethnographic accounts of  the  religions of  Egyptians, Assyrians,  Persians etc. have  received  even more  attention  than  what  he  says about  Greek religion  -  one  only  has  to  mention  the  fundamental  studies of  Francois  Hartog  (1980), Fabio  Mora  (1985)  and  Walter  Burkert  (1990).  In spite  of  the  fact  that  Burkert  in  his  essay  on  'Herodotus as  a  historian of  alien  reli gions' comes to  the  conclusion that  'the  most  interesting  questions...  [seem] to  lie  out- side  the  closed  System  of  relations  of  Greek  religion'  (cf.  Burkert  1990,  3), 2  in  the  fol- lowing it  is  my  intention  to  focus  precisely on  the  Greek religious System  as  document- ed in  Herodotus,  and  point  especially to  one  aspect  that  seems  to  me  not  to  have  received  enough attention  so  far.  I  intend  to  ask  if  and  to  what  extent  th e  many  Greek  sanctuaries and  temples that  were  an  accepted  component  of  Herodotus'  world  formed  parts  of  a  coherent religious network.  Was  there  anything  like  a  'mental map'  of  a  sacred  landscape  of  Greek sanctuaries in  Herodotus'  world?  It  will  not  be  possible  to  give  a  comprehen- sive answer  to  this  question in  th e  space  of  this  paper,  and  I  am  myself  at  the  beginning of  this  investigation.  Therefore, what  follows  is  to  be  understood as  a  collection of  pre- liminary observations,  still very  general  in  character. ' I  would  like  to  thank  J.  Nicols  and  N.  Luraghi for  their patience  in  translating  my  text  into  English.  For  discussions of  th e  topic I  am  grateful to  K.  Freitag,  M.  Haake, and  M.  Jung. The  dissertation of  Bowden  (1990) on  Herodotus  and  Greek  sanctuaries has  never been  published;  bu t  cf.  nevertheless  Bowden 2003.  2  On  Herodotus and  Greek religion in  general se e  now  especially  Gould  2001 and  Mikalson 2002.  On  th e  religion of  Herodotus cf.  Harrison 2000.  159  

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öffentlichung in : V.  Karagheorgis - J.  Taifacos  (Hrsgg.), The World of  Herodotus. Proceedings  of  an  International  Conference  

 at  the Foundation  Anastasios  G.  Leventis, Nicosia, September 18-21, 2003 and  organized  by  the Foundation  Anastasios  G.  Leventis 

 the Faculty of  Letters, University  of  Cyprus, Nicosia  2004, S.  159-167 

Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek  World1  

Peter Funke 

In 1981 ,  J o hn  Ferguson  pub l i shed an article entit led  'He rodo tus as a source   fo r the study 

of Greek  r e l i g i on ' . Th i s article was typ ica l o f a r enewed interest  in p r ob l ems connected  

with re l ig ion that was ev ident also among  class ic ists  in those years . Wi t h  the  mater ial he 

gathered, Ferguson  s howed  in an  impress i ve w a y th e r ichness  o f In format ion regarding  

the his tory  o f re l ig ion enc losed   in Herodo tus ' Histories. N o other l i terary work  f r om  the  

Archaic or Clas s i ca l age o f fers a comparab l y  broad spectrum   o f detai led ev idence ,  none opens such a w ide  perspect ive on th e divers i ty  not on l y o f Greek but a lso  o f al ien rel i -

gions.  In recent  t imes , Herodo tus ' ethnographic accounts o f the re l ig ions o f Egyp t i an s , 

Assyrians, Pers ians etc. have rece ived even more attention than  what he says about 

Greek re l ig ion - one on l y has to ment i on the  f undamenta l studies  o f Franco is  Hartog  

(1980), Fab i o  Mo r a   (1985 ) and Walter Burker t  (1990 ) . 

In spite  o f the  fact that Burker t  in h is essay on  'He rodo tus as a histor ian  o f al ien re l i

gions' c o m e s  to the co nc l us i o n that  ' the mo s t interesting quest ions. . . [ s eem] to  l ie o u t -

side the c losed  System   o f relat ions  o f G r e e k re l ig ion '  (c f . Burker t 1 9 9 0 , 3),2  in the  f o l -

lowing it   is  m y  intent ion to  f o cus  prec i se ly o n the  G r e e k re l ig ious System as d o c u m e n t -

ed  in H er o do tus ,  and po int espec ia l l y to o n e aspect that seems to m e not to h a v e rece ived  

enough attention  so far. I  intend  to ask  i f and to w hat extent th e m a n y G r e e k  sanctuar ies 

and  t emp l e s that w er e an accepted  c o m p o n e n t  o f H er o do tus ' w o r l d   f o r m e d parts  o f a 

coherent re l ig ious ne tw o r k .  W a s there anyth ing  l i ke a  'men ta l  m a p '  o f a sacred   l andscape 

of G r e e k sanctuar ies  in H er o do tus ' w o r l d ? It  w i l l not b e poss ib le  to g i v e a c o m p r e h e n -

sive answ er to this quest ion  in th e space   o f this paper , and I  a m  m y s e l f at the beg i nn i ng 

of this  inves t igat ion . T her e fo r e , w hat  f o l l o w s  is to be unders tood as a co l lec t ion  o f pr e -

liminary o bse r va t i o ns , sti l l very  general  in character. 

' I wou l d l ike  to thank   J . Nico ls  and  N . Luraghi fo r their patience  in  translating  my text into  Eng l i sh . For 

discussions o f th e topic I am  grateful to  K . Freitag , M . Haake , and  M . J ung . The  dissertation o f B ow d e n 

(1990) on  Herodotus  and  Greek  sanctuaries has never been published; bu t c f . nevertheless  B ow d e n 2003 . 2 O n Herodotus and  Greek religion in  general se e now  especial ly Gou l d  2001 and Mika l son 2002 . O n the  

religion  o f Herodotus c f . Harrison 2000 . 

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PETER F U N K E

Addressing G r e e k r e l i g i o n m e a n s a d d r e s s in g polis r e l i g i o n : ' Th e polis p r o v i d e d th e

fundamental f r a m e w o r k i n w h i c h G r e e k r e l i g i o n o p e r a t e d ' . W i t h t hi s S t a te m e n t,

Christiane S o u r v i n o u - I n w o o d h a s a p tl y d e f i n e d th e m a i n c h a ra c t er o f G r e e k r e l i g i o n

(Sourvinou-Inwood 2 0 0 0 , 1 3 ) . G r e e k r el i g io n w a s p r i m a r i l y polis re l ig ion o r ethnos re l i

gion. Re l ig ion and cu l t re f lec ted d i rec t ly the po l i t i ca l wo r ld o f the Gr ee k polis a n d w e r e

characterized by it s sam e var ie ty and d ivers i ty . Wi th h i s ma ny ind ica t ion s and re fe r -

ences, He rodo tus o f fe rs us a par t icu lar ly goo d ins ight in the var iegated w or l d o f polis

religion, a n d a t t h e s a m e t i m e h e c o m m u n i c a t e s a c o m p r e h e n s i v e v i e w o f i ts g e o g r a p h -

ical e x t e n s i o n . H o w e v e r , a t f i rs t s i g ht t h is l o o k s m o r e l i k e a m e r e j u x t a p o s i t i o n o f d i s -

connected ent i t ie s than a coh es i ve and o rgan ized who le . 3

Al l th i s i s we l l kn ow n and requ i res no fur ther e labora t ion . In o rder to appro ach the

question o f the ex i s tence o f a sacred land scap e , i t i s necessary to turn awa y f r om co n -

sidering the polis the locu s o f re l ig ious ac t iv i ty par excellence, and concentra te our

attention o n t h e e m b e d d e d n e s s o f polis r e l i g i o n in a m u c h m o r e c o m p l e x S y st e m o f r e l a -

tions. O n th i s p o i n t , I r e f er a g a i n t o Ch r i s t i a n e S o u r v i n o u - I n w o o d : ' E a c h p o l i s wa s a re l i

gious s y s t e m w h i c h f o r m e d p a rt o f t h e m o r e c o m p l e x w o r l d - o f - t h e - p o fo S y s t e m , i n te r -

acting with the re l ig iou s Sys tems o f the o ther poleis and w i th the Panhe l len ic re l ig ious

dimension' ( S o u r v i n o u - I n w o o d 2 0 0 0 , 1 3 ). I n t h e f o l l o w i n g I i n t e nd t o s h o w th a t b y

including in our perspec t ive the m ech an ism s o f th i s in te rac t ion i t i s poss ib le to reach a t

least a ten ta t ive So lu t ion to the pro b le m w e are dea l in g w i t h . In so do ing , I w i l l con f in emy at ten t ion to the Pan he l le n ic re l ig iou s d im ens io n . 4

In the ar ti c le re fe r red to be fo re , W a l te r Burk er t ( 199 0 ) co r rec t ly under l ine d tha t

Herodotus appears to be essent ia l l y scep t ica l in theo log ica l mat ters . Typ ica l o f th i s a t t i-

tude i s a passage in B o o k 2 , wer e Herod o tus ex p l i c i t l y re fuses to narra te ' d iv ine th ing s ' :

TO d e t a TCptiYuaxa, x ä eyoo (peuvio udcAtcrTa &7rr)Y eea9a i (H dt . 2.6 5. 2) . In spit e o f his

eschewing theo lo g ica l specu la t ion and con f in ing h i s a t ten t ion pr im ar i l y to the concre te

manifestation o f re l ig iou s be l ie f s , bes ides a num ber o f re fe rences to cu l t p rac t ices o f S in

gle poleis a n d ethne, H e r o d o t u s a l s o p r o v i d e s h i n t s o f a P a n h e l l e n i c r e l i g i o u s d i m e n s i o n .The op i n io n on the o r ig in s o f the Gree k pantheon express ed in Bo o k 2 a l ready po in ts in

this d irec t ion . Th ere He rodo tus says tha t i t wa s H om er and He s io d w h o fir st ' taught the

3 Th is aspect f inds its expression in the great num ber o f religious festivals of the political com mu nities in

the Greek wo r ld ; see Cart ledge 1985 ,98 - 9 .4 A n instructive exam ple for the Panhellenic re lig ious System is exem plif ied in Xe nop hon 's Anabasis; c f.

on this point Price 1999 , 1-4.

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HERODOTUS A N D T H E M A J O R S A N C T U A R I E S O F TH E G R E E K W O R L D

Greeks the descent o f the god s, and gave the god s their nam es , and determ ined their

spheres and funct ion s , and described the ir outward fo rm s ' (2 .53 .2 ; c f . Th om as 20 00 ,

216-7).

For our purposes it is irrelevant i f and to what extent this Statement Covers Herodotus'

religious scept ic ism or his dou bt regarding a certain theog ony. I t is impo rtant to note that

in spite o f a l l d ivers i ty not o nly in the f ie ld o f po l i t ics but also in the f ie ld o f re l ig ion , we

can see in Herod otus the traces of a Panhe l lenic level o f percep t ion, wh ich wa s imp or

tant fo r Greek re l ig ious thought , independent o f Herod otus ' personal op in ion s . Such a

Panhellenic perspect ive became re levant espec ia l l y when ever the sense o f co m m on her -

itage and so l idar i ty am ong the Greek s had to be em pha s ized . There fore , Ar i s tagoras o f

Miletus cou ld inv oke the Seo i 'EXXnvio t (Hdt . 5 .49 .3 ) jus t as Soc les o f Cor inth (H dt .

5.92ri) and H ipp ias o f Athen s (Hdt . 5 .3 .1 ) . In 480 the Athen ians re jec ted the Pers ians '

offer o f peace 'out o f respect fo r Zeus He l le n ios ' (A ta "EXAnviov a iöeaSev Teg ) (9 .7a ) ;

and Hegesistratus o f Sam os at Delo s in 47 9 cal led the Gre eks to cont inu e the war against

the Pers ians in the name o f the ' com m on g ods ' - Beo\ K O I V O I (Hdt . 9 .90 .2 ) .

This Pan hel le nic perspect ive on the world o f the Greek god s was a necessary presu p-

position for the forma tion o f a sacred landscap e of a Panhe l lenic breadth, that over -

stepped the bord ers o f the Single poleis even tho ugh i ts found at ion s lay in a re l ig ious

world d o mi na ted b y polis re l ig ion . Th e Theoi Hellenioi were located in a wor ld of sanc-

tuaries wh ose coord inates were de f ined by a shared re l ig ious se l f -percep üon o f theGreeks I t was a spec i f ic re l ig ious wo rld that d id not consist s im ply in the sum total o f a

multitude of temp les and sanctuar ies , but was dist inguish ed by the existenc e o f som e

sanctuaries wh ose reach went we l l beyo nd a pure ly loca l d imen s ion , and that were

respected even b y the no n -G r eek s .

The special dem en t that granted cohesion to this system w as Panhe l lenic reco gm üo n

and - the other side o f the coin - Pan helle nic accessibil ity. Rega rdless o f the admin istra

tive com peten ce of particular poleis, ethne or am phik tyon ic bod ies, these sanctuar ies were

perceived by the Greeks as their com m on property. Th is percept ion co m es to the fore

already in the speech reported by H erodotus (H dt. 8 .144), b y w hic h the Athen ians in the

Winter of 48 0/7 9 ev ok ed the unity o f the Greek s in the face of the Persian threat .

Addressing the Spartan amb assadors w h o were then present in At he ns , they exp hcit ly stat-

ed that they were not going to be the trai tors to the co m m on Gre ek cau se, Tö 'EXXnvucov.

Then the Athen ians go on to def ine m ore precisely what Tö 'EXXnviKÖv is : besides co m

mon bloo d and a com m on language (öuatuöv rs Ka i öuö YXcoa aov) sanctuar ies and sacn -

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PETER F U N K E

f ices are especial ly s ingled out as something that identif ies the Greeks (»etöv tÖpuuaTd TE

KOtvä Kai »ucr ia t; Hdt . 8 .144; c f . Ko ns tan 2001 and Ha l l 20 02 ,18 9-2 04 ) .

The f irst c lause o f the Peac e o f Nic ias , in 4 2 1, i s prob ab ly to be referred to the same

sanctuaries. A c c or d i n g t o Th u c y d i d e s , i t s a id ( Th u c . 5 .18 . 2 ) : ' A s f a r a s t h e c om m on

sanctuaries are concern ed (Trepi uev TCöV tepwv T W V K O I VC ö V ) : there shal l be a free passa geby land an d by sea to a l l w h o w ish i t , to sacr i f ice , t rave l , consu l t , and ar tend the orac le

or g a m e s (Sueiv u a v xe u e a d a i detopetv) , acco rding to the ancestra l custom s (Karex TCC

Trdxpia)' ( c f . H o r n b l ow e r 1996 , 47 1 - 2 ad loc). E ve n thoug h th is ru l ing has to be seen

against the back grou nd o f contemp orary s trugg les be tween A then s and Spar ta for con -

trol ove r De lph i , the sentence Trepi uev T I ü V ieptöv T C ö V K O X V W V sugg ests that the claus e

referred to a wide r gro up o f sanctuar ies . Ob vi ou s l y th is c lause guaranteed a spec ia l pro

tection f or those sanc tuaries that were c om m on ly peree ived as be ing par ti cu lar ly imp or -

tant f or a l l the Gree ks .It i s notew orth y that here , just as in the speech o f the Athe nia ns reported by

Herodotus, no further deta il wa s necessary to ma ke c lear wh ich sanctuar ies wer e referred

to by the wo rdsTCC iepd TO KOivd, a l thou gh the c lause o f the treaty wo ul d hav e required

more prec i s ion o n th is po in t . O bv io us ly there wa s a genera l agreement on th is po in t , and

this consensu s was peree ived by the Greeks as uncontrovers ia l and b ind in g . Th i s po in t

can be further c lar i f ie d b y reference to a passa ge in the Dissoi Logoi, a n a n o n y m o u s

rhetorical treat ise fro m the ear ly fourth Century (on th is text c f . mo st recent ly Br ing m an n

2000). In a d iscu ss ion o f the p lund er o f temple s (Tö iepocxuAev) w e read: ' I leave as ide

the pro perty o f the Single po lei s (TCC Töia TWV roAewv). Bu t is it un jus t to take aw ay the

common proper ty o f the Greek s (TOC KOIVOC T Ö g 'EAAdÖog) f rom De lp h i and f rom

Olympia . .. and to use i t in war , whe n the barbar ian threatens Gr ee ce ? ' ( D K II 90.3 .8; c f .

also R o b i n s on 1979 , 118 - 9 , 183 ) .

This j u x t a p os i t i on o f TO Töia T W VTTÖAeoov an d T d K o i v d T a g 'EAA döog co n f i rm s in the

clearest w ay the pereept ion rooted in Gre ek men tal i ty of the ex is tenc e of a spec ia l grou p

of sanc tuar ies tha t were cons idered Pan he l l en ic and w ere very co nsc io us ly s ing led out

from the mult i tud e o f the polis cul ts . I hav e d iscus sed these passages in order to show

that the idea o f Td iepd Td KOtvd in Class ica l Gre ece w as not based s im ply on an unspe c-

ified emot ional sense , but on the contrary was connected very prec ise ly wi th spec i f ic

sanctuaries that form ed as a w ho le a sacred landscape an d were inscr ibe d as such o n a

mental m a p in th e G r e e k s ' m i n d s .

How can w e concrete ly ima gin e th is wor l d? It i s re lat ive ly easy to def in e the typ olo -

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HERODOTUS A N D T H E M A J O R S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E G R E E K W O R L D

gy of these sanctuar ies . Be side s the places wh ere the great Pan hel len ic gam es took plac e,

we ha ve to do ma in ly w i th oracu lar sanctuar ies and hea l ing cu l t s . Ho we ve r , even m ys -

tery c u l t s s u c h a s t h o s e i n E l e u s i s a n d S a m o t h r a c e c o u l d b e l o n g t o t h e g r o u p .

Furthermore, we should a l so m ent ion sanctuaries that were no t pr imar i l y Pa nhe l len ic ,

but neverthe less represented a focus fo r integrat ion, a lso o f a pol i t ica l nature, that wen tbeyond the border o f the polis, such as for instance the amp hik tyo nic sanctuar ies or the

cult places o f the var ious Gre ek ethne. For reasons o f space I have to conf in e m ys e l f to

this general de f ini t ion , but i t w ou ld be very interest ing to discus s the relat ionsh ip, i f any ,

between the spec i f ic cul t ic funct io ns o f a sanctuary and its Panh el lenic character.

A concrete de f ini t ion of spe ci f ic sanctuar ies as parts o f a Panh el lenic sacred land-

scape i s mu ch m ore co m plex than th i s admi t ted ly very genera l typ o log y o f sanctuaries .

As w e m igh t exp ect , such a sacred lands cape is never descr ibed as a w ho le in the ancient

sources. I t m erely const i tutes, to borrow a conce pt fro m G erm an l iterary theory , the

'unstressed bac kgrou nd ' o f a narrat ive . There fore , a compre hens ive v iew , that w i l l o f

necessity a lwa ys be incom plete , can be extrapo lated on ly f ro m a comparat ive scrut iny o f

individual cases . Here Herod otus ' Histories take pr ide o f p lace . N o o ther Arch a ic o r

Classical author of fers such a r ieh corpus o f evide nce fo r the quest ion w e are deal ing

with. I intend to present so m e exam ple s of this , and f in al ly to concentrate more c lose ly

on H er o d o tus h i mse l f .

Independently o f i ts histor ic i ty , Hero dot us ' fa m ou s narrat ive of the consu ltat ion o f the

Greek orac les by Croesus k ing o f Lyd ia be fore h i s war against Cyru s o f Persia show s in

the best w ay that there c lear ly wa s a group o f Gree k oracles that were d efm itely m ore

prominent than al l other oracles - i f I m ay use this expre ssion , they pla yed in a div is io n

of t h e ir o w n ( H d t . 1 . 4 6 - 5 0 ) . I n C r o e s u s ' , o r H e r o d o t u s ' , t i m e s , th e s e w e r e , b e s i d e s

Delphi , A b a i i n P h o k i s , D o d o n a i n E p i r u s , t h e A m p h i a r a i o n a n d t h e T r o p h o n i o n i n

Boeotia, Bran chida i by Mi le tu s and the sanctuary o f Zeu s A m m o n in the oas i s o f S iw a

in the L ib ya n desert . In order to f ind out whic h one was mo st trustworthy , Cro esu s test -

ed them by hav ing the same quest ion asked o f a l l o f them , a quest ion wh ose answ er on lyhe kn ew . Th e fac t that De lph i came out as the w inn er under l ines the prom inence o f th is

sanctuary that em erges also in the rest o f the evid enc e.

At the same t im e, the l ist o f the oracles that Cro esus tested aeco rding to He rodo tus

shows the breadth of this network of sanctuar ies , that in spi te o f being in co m peti t io n

with on e another were also regarded as in som e sense belo ngin g together . Th is is ma de

clear also b y the Störy of the founda t ion o f the oracle o f Zeu s at Do d on a narrated by

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PETER F U N K E

Herodotus (Hdt . 2 .55 ; c f . Nesse lra th 1999 and B ich le r 200 1, 174-6 , and a l so Burker t

1985, 124 - 5 ) . T w o b l a c k d ov e s f l e w f r om Th e b e s i n Eg y p t , on e tow a r d s L i b y a a n d t he

other towards D od on a , and caused the founda t ion o f an orac le o f Zeu s in both p laces .

Thereby the tw o fa m ou s oracular sanctuar ies locate d at the far ther borders o f the Gree k

world were connec ted w i th each o ther . I t wo u ld have ha rd ly been poss ib le to take abroader geograph ica l span to underscore the sys temat i c connec t ion s be twe en these two

sanctuaries and at the sam e t ime to de l im it the extens io n o f the cul t ic lands cape o f the

Greek w o r l d .

Admittedly, w e do not h av e to regard the l is t o f the orac les interrogated by Cro esus

as a com ple te li s t of a ll pro mi nen t orac les of those t imes . Ho w ev er , i t i s s tr ik ing that for

instance the sanc tuary o f A p o l l o P to ios in Bo eo t ia , f am ou s for i ts r ieh Arc ha i c rema ins

(cf. Schachter 1981, 52 -73 ; Schachter 1994, 11 -21 ) , i s not men t ioned in the li s t . A l s o

absent i s the sanctuary of Z eu s at Ol ym p ia , that wa s an importan t oracular cul t at leastin the Arc ha ic per iod (Str . 8.3.3 0; c f . Sinn 1994 ) . On the other han d, oracular sanctuar

ies w ho se imp ortan ce in later t im es, as far as i t i s poss ib le to te i l based o n the evid en ce ,

seems to hav e been ra ther l im i ted , f ind a p lace in the li s t ( c f . Fun ke for t heo min g ) .

This l eads us to the pro b le m o f f i x ing He rodo tus ' perspec t ive in t ime . An d o f course ,

this pr ob lem re lates d irect ly to the pro ble m o f the truthful or f ic t iv e nature of h is report .

This last ques t ion is less re levan t for us , tho ug h, for eve n a f ic t ive narrat ive wo u ld hav e

to be em bed de d in a p lau s ib le co ntex t , that i s , in our case , in a real sacred landsca pe. I t

is mo re d i f f ic u l t to te i l wh ether H ero do tus ' l is t i s to be taken as representat ive of h is ow n

times or o f the mid - s i x th Century . D i s t ing u i sh in g 'narra t ive t im e ' f ro m 'h i s tor i ca l t im e '

in H e r o d o t u s is f a m o u s l y h a r d ( o n th i s t o p i c c f . t h e g e n e r a l re m a r k s b y D a r b o -

Peschanski 1993) . Lo cat in g in t ime a sacred landscape tha t form s the backgr oun d o f one

of h is nar ra ti ves i s o f ten po ss ib le on ly based on ex terna l ev ide nce . H ow ev er , th is co m -

plex o f prob lem s has to be le f t as ide here for reasons o f space.

If w e analyse the l i s t o f the orac les interrogated by Cro esu s against the bac kgr ou nd

of la te Class ic a l or eve n Hel le nis t ic cond i t io ns , we can at least obse rve that the pro m i -

nence of G reek oracu lar and hea l ing cu l t s cou ld change rad ica l l y in t ime and wa s a lway s

dependent on the ever -chan g ing s i tua t ions and even fash ions . Th e group o f the mo s t

prominent sanctuar ies was in no w ay unc han geab le : rather i t seems to have und ergon e

modifications dictated by the h is tor ica l contex t . Th is shou ld co m e as no surpr ise , s ince

success and fa i lure in th is f ie ld co uld be m easure d very ea s i ly , as C roe su s ' test show s (c f .

Funke f or th eom ing ) . Hea l in g cu l t s w i l l p robab ly hav e been exposed to the same m ech -

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HERODOTUS A N D T H E M A J O R S A N C T U A R I E S O F TH E G R E E K W O R L D

anisms, but they are m ore di f f ic ul t to loca l ize in He rod otu s ' sacred land scap e, s ince their

role in He rod otu s ' wo rk is not near ly as prom inen t as that o f the oracular cul ts . On e rea-

son for this migh t be that in his t imes he al ing and oracular cul ts were st i ll c losely co n

nected, and o nly w ith the exp an sion o f the cul t o f As cle piu s in the late f i f th Century cam e

to be more strongly di f ferent iated from each other (Aleshire 1991).It i s easier to grasp the ro le o f the sanctuar ies that hosted Pa nhe l lenic co m peti t io ns.

Since the late sixth Century at the latest, the so -ca lled perihodos had deve lo ped , that con

nected the Panh e l len ic gam es o f Oly m pi a , De lph i , Ne m ea and I s thmia (see Festus , p .

236 [L in dsa y] , s . v . per iho dos , on the mea ning o f the term perihodos and c f . on this topic

Funke fort hc om ing ). The se four sanctuar ies represented a stable and rema rkably co n-

stant d e m e n t of the sacred landscape of the Gre eks . I t is therefore noteworth y that

Herodotus m entio ns on ly three of the four , and never talks about Ne m ea. Just as

Herodotus, other contem pora ry sources seem to ignore Ne m ea , a fact that is very di f f i

cult to exp lain . Ho we ve r , it i s c lear that in the Panh el lenic sacred landscape there was

some sort o f rank ing, that in turn correspond ed to the higher or low er prom inen ce o f each

of the sanctuar ies , and in this ranking N em ea seem s to hav e occu pied on e of the last

positions ( c f . Funk e f o r thco m i ng ) .

It i s t ime to conc lu de . Th e few exa mp les I have d iscussed should have sho wn c lear ly

that H e r o d o t u s ' Histories ref lect a sacred landscape that existed as a menta l m ap in the

minds o f the Gree ks and or iented their thoughts and act ions. H ow ev er , Hero dotus of fers

us on ly a partial ins ight into a mu ch m ore co m ple x rel ig ious wor ld. A t the very least , he

gives us a typical sam ple o f this sacred landsc ape, wh ose structure cou ld be approached

in a comp rehe ns ive w ay by m ak in g use o f fur ther , espec ia l l y archaeo log ica l ev iden ce .

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