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Le donateur, l’offrande et la déesse

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Clarisse Prêtre

Large-Scale Terracottas and the Cult of Demeter and Kore in Corinth1

Nancy Bookidis

Résumé

La découverte des fragments de plus de 140 statues de terre cuite dans le sanctuaire de Démèter et Korè de la Corinthe antique pose la question de la nature des dédicaces et des dédicants. La majorité des fragments représente des adolescents drapés ou nus, de la moitié de la taille humaine ou grandeur nature. Une quantité moindre représente des jeunes femmes drapées. Les premières statues datent du vie s. av. J.-C. et la série se poursuit aux ve et ive s; les dernières datent peut-être du début du iiie s av. J.-C. L’article explore les différentes interprétations possibles pour ces statues, en partant du constat que les grands lots de figures masculines sont exceptionnels dans les sanctuaires consacrés à Démèter et à Korè.

Texte intégral

  • 1 I would like to thank the organizers, Drs. C. Prêtre and S. Huysecom-Haxhi, for inviting me to part (...)
  • 1 The sanctuary is published in the following fascicles of Corinth XVIII, The Sanctuary of Demeter an (...)

1When dealing with sanctuaries dedicated to Demeter and Kore, we are generally certain of the kinds of dedications that we will find. Indeed how many times has one said or read that a given deposit must belong to their cult because of its contents? Typical are figurines of girls with pigs or torches, loomweights, jewelry, enormous amounts of pottery, and lamps. Although the dominant pottery shape may vary from site to site, miniature hydrias are sure to play a role. In the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in Corinth, we have all of these kinds of dedications in abundance.1 But, in addition, we have a type of offering that, to the best of my knowledge, has not been found elsewhere. In preparing this material for publication, I have asked myself many of the questions posed by this conference. Most particularly, I have been puzzled by the place this kind of offering would have held in a cult devoted to two goddesses, what meaning it conveyed to the visitor, and who would have given it.

2The objects in question are a series of terracotta statues, numbering somewhere between 140 and 170 in all. These are not figurines but large-scale sculptures that vary from one-half to life-size, and they are all products of Corinthian workshops. Beginning in the middle of the sixth century B.C., if not before, the statues form a consistent type of offering from the sixth through fourth centuries, before ending around the early third century B.C. Relatively few are well preserved — thus the uncertainty of their final number, but the very fragmentary ones can generally be understood from the more complete examples, some of which I will present here. These terracotta statues may represent the largest number of large-scale sculptures from any sanctuary of Demeter yet excavated.

  • 2 The drawings are by Roxanna Doxan, the photographs by I. Ioannidou, L. Bartziotou.

3As would be expected in a sanctuary to Demeter and Kore, there are statues of draped females. A shoulder and prominent left breast (SF-64-30) can be identified with certainty as part of an Archaic draped female, possibly a peplophoros. To this statue can be added two more peplophoroi, if correctly restored from several fragments of drapery, one dating to the early fifth century B.C. (SF-72-5), the second to the late fifth or early fourth century B.C. (SF-64-56, Fig. 1).2 One more fragment (SF-65-96A-C), is also female, bringing the total to four statues that can be identified with certainty.

4In contrast to that number, at least ninety-nine statues depict males. Of these, the most common is the draped or semi-draped male, forty-two certain examples of which exist, as well as six more probable ones.

  • 3 R.S. Stroud, “The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth, Preliminary Report II: 1964-1965,” (...)

5Two statues best illustrate this type. The earlier of the two, modeled in the third quarter of the sixth century B.C., depicts a now headless youth of slightly more than one-half life-size (SF-64-12: Fig. 2).3 Dressed in a chiton and himation, he stands with left leg advanced, left arm bent. His extended left hand, now missing, would have held an object of some sort. To those who might say that he is female, I would point to his flat chest, as Semni Kourouzou emphatically pointed out to us many years ago, and to his himation, which is draped from his left shoulder.

  • 4 For the head, see R.S. Stroud, “The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth, Preliminary Repor (...)

6The second statue (SF-65-14: Fig. 3) represents a more developed version of the same subject slightly more than one hundred years later.4 Three-fourths life-size, this youth has abandoned the chiton in favor simply of a himation. His garment covers the left side of his chest and the lower half of his torso and legs in deep parallel folds, while one free end is thrown over his extended left arm. Both of his hands are drawn against his chest to support a hare, only the legs of which remain.

  • 5 For the Piraeus Youth, see R. Lullies, M. Hirmer, Greek Sculpture, London, 1960 [1957], trans. A. B (...)

7Less common than the draped figure is the nude male, of which seventeen statues can be identified with certainty and two more with probability. These, however, have fared less well, undoubtedly because their undraped legs were more easily broken. A single example from around the end of the fifth century will illustrate the type (SF-64-13: Fig. 4). Here, the statue’s upper torso is superimposed on a drawing of the Piraeus Youth.5 Reflecting the influence of Polykleitan chiastic poses, the figure stands with weight on his right leg, left foot advanced but flat, left shoulder raised, and left arm bent. His nudity is apparent not only in his bare torso but also in the complete rendering of his right foot, not shown here. With draped statues only the front half of the foot is shown as it projects from the drapery hem.

  • 6 For the type, see T. Hadzisteliou-Price, “The Type of the Crouching Child and ‘Temple Boys’,” ABSA (...)

8In addition to these two types, four statues depict young boys, to judge by plump feet and unformed chests. Fifteen large statuettes depict seated male infants of the ‘Temple Boy’ type.6 Thirty-eight more sets of fragments, consisting of only small segments of hair, drapery or unpainted limbs, could technically belong to either sex. Yet when they are compared to the better preserved examples, the majority of these also appear closer to the male than to the female figures. But even if we assume that these thirty-eight fragments all once represented females, the total number of forty-two females would still be far less than the ninety-nine that can be identified as male.

  • 7 For a discussion of this subject in conjunction with the Archaic korai from the Athenian Acropolis, (...)

9The figures carried a variety of objects: a pig, birds, hare, a large tortoise; a stick of some sort, a phiale, a wreath, an aryballos, and a bundle of astragaloi. Were these attributes or gifts? When the Archaic statue (SF-64-12), mentioned earlier, was first found, Ronald Stroud suggested that it represents a youthful Dionysos. Because astragaloi and aryballoi are best explained as attributes of male pursuits and games, however, I would argue that the statues depict mortals rather than gods.7 The various animals can be understood either as offerings or pets, the wreath and phiale the accouterments of the votary.

  • 8 For the Upper Terrace in the Greek period, see Bookidis and Stroud, o.c. (n. 1), p. 253272. Much of (...)

10We can say nothing conclusive about the placement of the statues in the Sanctuary, although one possibility is in the open air on the steep slope of the Upper Terrace, where some of the larger pieces were found.8 We also have little idea how long they would have stood, for the majority of the fragments were found in contexts of the fourth century after Christ. Those few that were found in more closely dated levels could have stood for many years or, in one or two cases, were discarded very soon after their dedication.

  • 9 For these see Merker, o.c. (n. 1).
  • 10 Ibid., p. 334. The Archaic figurines are being prepared for publication by S. Langdon.

11All five types, the seated infant, the young boy, the older youth both draped and nude, and the peplophoros, are represented among the small-scale figurines.9 But their relative numbers are dramatically different from those of the large-scale statues. Among the more than 24,000 fragments of figurines from the site, there are less than fifty figurines of youths and boys of Classical and Hellenistic date, and only a few from the Archaic period.10 With the addition of twenty-three figurines of ‘Temple Boys’ and a small number of reclining male banqueters and horse-and-riders, the total is enlarged somewhat, but it cannot begin to compare with the overwhelming number of female figurines. The latter follow the usual forms of standing and seated females, initially holding flowers, fruit or birds, and, later, pigs and torches.

  • 11 Ibid, p. 334-336.
  • 12 See, for example, the semi-draped torsos shown in preliminary publication in Stroud 1968, l.c. (n. (...)

12Merker identified three distinct age groups among the male figurines: infants, 6-year-old children, and early teens.11 These same divisions can be found among the large statues; however, I would raise the age of the last group to at least mid teens, for they seem to me to have muscular and anatomically developed figures.12 Having concluded that the statues depict mortals because of what they hold, my question then is who are they?

  • 13 The bibliography on this subject is vast. Most useful are a series of papers presented in D.B. Dodd(...)
  • 14 C.K. Williams, “Pre-Roman Cults in the Area of the Forum of Ancient Corinth,” (Diss., University of (...)
  • 15 Compare the accounts in E. Will, Korinthiaka: recherches sur l’histore et la civilisation de Corint (...)

13Over the last thirty to forty years, in particular, it has been customary to assume that statues of youths and girls must be tied to the enactment of some sort of maturation rite during which the symbols of childhood were put aside in preparation for the responsibilities of adulthood.13 This conclusion presupposes that such rites existed at Corinth and, more particularly, that such rites formed a part of the worship of Demeter and Kore. Since our understanding of maturation rites is largely confined to Attic, Spartan and Cretan sources that bear no relation to Corinth, I would question the validity of reconstructing similar rites for her based on interpretations of them. Regrettably, we know virtually nothing about the social divisions and associated celebrations that were practiced in Corinth. Our sole references to rituals involving young people are limited to torch races run by young men or boys in honor of Hellotis,14 and rites enacted in memory of Medea’s children, when seven boys and girls, dressed in black with hair cut short, were chosen to spend a year in the Sanctuary of Hera Akraia.15 If a rite of passage required integration into society in a new form after a period of seclusion, then only half the process is preserved here, for there is no account of the children’s return. Was this a rite of passage or a restricted act of expiation of some ancient guilt?

  • 16 N.J. Richardson, The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Oxford, 1974, p. 114-116, ll. 231-255. On Demeter as (...)
  • 17 Merker, o.c. (n. 1), p. 117-124, 337-338.

14To the best of my knowledge, there is little evidence for such maturation rites in conjunction with the worship of Demeter and Kore. As kourotrophos, Demeter cared for infants or small children — witness her nursing of Eleusinian Demophon,16 But I wonder whether kourotrophic concerns extended to teenage boys and girls. G.S. Merker and others have proposed that teenage girls participated in some kind of premarital ritual on the eve of their marriage. In the Corinth sanctuary figurines of girls with long loose hair and ungirt peplos are thought to have represented images of such brides.17 To what extent this ritual was a private act of dedication rather than the act of a group, we cannot say. But while premarital dedications may provide a reason behind the giving of female statues, in no way do they help to explain statues of youthful males.

  • 18 Bookidis and Stroud, o.c. (n. 1) S-T:21, p. 260-266.
  • 19 For the court, see ibid., p. 245-248. Both T. Becker (Griechische Stufenanlagen. Untersuchungen zur (...)
  • 20 H.P. Foley (ed.), The Homeric Hymn to Demeter’: Translation, Commentary and Interpretative Essays, (...)

15A second way to approach these dedications centers on initiation. A small rock-cut theater set near the top of the Sanctuary has suggested to Ronald Stroud and myself that some sort of mysteries must have been attached to the cult.18 Accommodating no more than 100 people, the theater may have provided a viewing place for performances carried out in the large court below.19 At the same time, its small size also implies that it provided the setting for revelations that were made to a restricted group of people. If such mysteries did exist, we assume that they were of a local character and were in no way connected with Eleusis. If votaries were initiated into these rites, it is also unlikely that the participation was limited to a particular age or that more emphasis was given to males over females. Nor should the act have been tied to any sort of rite of passage. In writing of initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries, H.P. Foley observed that such an initiation “... effected no civic status of the individual, such as creating citizens or initiating them into adult roles.”20 Initiation, then, does not provide a satisfactory explanation for the dedication of these statues.

  • 21 Pemberton, o.c. (n. 1), p 133-134, no. 292 (C-65-291), fig. 34, p1. 32.
  • 22 When one estimates the space taken up by the two runners, there is not sufficient room for a third (...)
  • 23 Most recently, I. McPhee, “Classical Vases in Ancient Corinth,” BICS 47 (2004), p. 3-4, figs. 3-4; (...)

16A fragmentary kotyle of the second quarter of the fifth century B.C., especially painted in the local outline style for its dedication in the Sanctuary, presents another possible interpretation for at least some of the figures (Fig. 5).21 On that vase a youth runs to the right, while carrying a purple cloak over his bent arms and a long stick in his right hand. The tip of a second cloak at the lower right break and an extra foot indicate that he was accompanied by a similar figure. A separate fragment of the same vase preserves the head of a woman who wears a stephane and who is identified by inscription as Pheri[phatta]. Facing left, she seems to be looking in the direction of the youths but must have stood on the opposite side of the cup.22 When this vase was found, we assumed that it depicted a scene of athletic competition in honor of Persephone and that it provided the explanation for the presence of so many boys.23 And yet, if this is a scene of competition, it is not a normal one, for I have found no parallels for boys running with cloak and staff. From experts on athletic events to whom I have shown this vase, the response is universal: the boys are not engaged in a foot race. Therefore, either some other kind of contest is being shown or a different kind of event. Also unclear is the relation of the boys to Persephone herself.

  • 24 V. Magnien, Les mystères d’Éleusis; leurs origines, le rituel de leurs initiations, Paris, 19503 [1 (...)
  • 25 Β. Ashmole, “Torch-racing at Rhamnous,” AJA 66 (1962), p. 233-234, who first identified a fragmenta (...)
  • 26 IG V.1 213, l. 31; R. Parker, “Demeter, Dionysos and the Spartan Pantheon,” in R. Hägg, N. Marinato (...)
  • 27 Hesychius, s.v. νδρομώ.
  • 28 M.B. Hatzopoulos, Cultes et rites de passage en Macédoine, Athens, 1994 (Meletemata, 19).

17Despite the questionable interpretation of the scene on the kotyle, evidence does exist for competitions in honor of Demeter at Eleusis,24 Rhamnous,25 Sparta,26 and possibly at Halicarnassos.27 Both a chariot race and a foot race are attested in two inscriptions from the Sanctuary of Demeter at Lete in Macedonia. From these and other evidence, M. Hatzopoulos reconstructs races for girls in honor of Demeter and proposes that similar events were held for boys in honor of Dionysos.28 The restoration of games depends on the interpretation of the word ‘neusasa’ or ‘nebeusasa’, which appears in a few Thessalian and Macedonian inscriptions, and which Hatzopoulos interprets as ‘running in a sacred race’. There is no tangible evidence for Dionysos at the site. Although the chariot races must have been performed by males rather than females, they could have been held in honor of Demeter. But if we accept an association with athletic competitions, does such an explanation apply to dedicatory statues of semi-draped youths?

  • 29 These are discussed in Merker, o.c. (n. 1), p. 327-333.
  • 30 Stroud 1968, l.c. (n. 3), p. 328-329, pl. 98h.
  • 31 Merker, o.c. (n. 1), p. 77,113, 332, 338, C273, pl. 22.
  • 32 Ibid., p. 76-77, 113, C268-272, pls. 22-23. For piping satyrs and Pan, p. 78-79, 113-114, C274-277, (...)
  • 33 Ibid., p. 185, 188, 193, 237, 239-240, H302, H319, H333, pls. 49, 51, 52.
  • 34 Pausanias, II, 11, 3: Phyraia near Phlious; II, 37, 1-2, Argive Lerna; VIII, 25, 2-3, Thelpous- sa (...)
  • 35 G.L. Ham, “The Choes and Anthesteria Reconsidered: Male Maturation Rites and the Peloponnesian Wars (...)
  • 36 L. Deubner, Attische Feste, Berlin, 1932, p. 142-147. P. Vidal-Naquet, The Black Hunter: Forms of T (...)

18There is yet another possibility. The sculptural dedications may not have been addressed to Demeter and Kore. Figurines provide some evidence for Aphrodite, Artemis, Eros, and a nameless hero as participants in the Sanctuary’s cult.29 The hero’s presence is based on the occurrence of reclining banqueters and horse-and-rider figurines that elsewhere in Corinth can be associated with such cults. Again, the numbers are not large. Of greater interest for our purposes is the discovery of a terracotta pinax inscribed with the name of Dionysos.30 To it can be added a sizable mask of a horned Dionysos that was found not too far from the rock-cut theater,31 five small masks of the god from other parts of the site,32 and a handful of figurines of children and other draped figurines holding bunches of grapes.33 Since Dionysos is frequently associated with Demeter in the Peloponnese,34 his presence in Corinth should not be surprising. But here, again, we are faced with problems. In the Sanctuary, the evidence for Dionysos begins no earlier than the second half of the fifth century and chiefly falls in the fourth century B.C., well after our earliest statues in the middle of the sixth century. More important, in reviewing what is known of Dionysos elsewhere, I find that except for the specifically Attic festivals of the Anthesteria, which involve young children,35 and the Oschophoria, which involve ephebes and Theseus,36 Dionysos is chiefly associated with women. Initiation rites for older boys do not seem to have played a prominent role in his cult.

  • 37 IK Clinton, The Sacred Officials of the Eleusinian Mysteries, Philadelphia, 1974 (TAPhS vol. 64, pt (...)
  • 38 See Keesling, o.c. (n. 7), p. 101 and n. 13, who states that there is no evidence for the dedicatio (...)

19We know that in Athens a child of either sex, the pais aph’ hestias was chosen to represent the city at the Eleusinian mysteries and to make sacrifices on her behalf.37 The child could be honored by means of a statue, the earliest of which, however, dates to the second century B.C. Was there a comparable position for an older boy or girl at Corinth? And if so, should we expect to find honorific statues of specific individuals as early as the middle of the sixth century B.C.?38 It seems unlikely.

  • 39 Stroud (1968), l.c. (n. 3), p. 328, pl. 98g; Bookidis and Stroud, o.c. (n. 1), p. 31, 157, no. 413, (...)

20What evidence do we have for the role of men or boys in the Corinthian cult? Among the seventy-five dedicatory graffiti and dipinti from the site, most of which are quite fragmentary, at least four dedicants were male. Indeed, the earliest dedicatory inscription from the site appears on an Early Corinthian cup, telling us that the ‘kotyle belongs to Choirasos’.39

21The outline-style kotyle mentioned earlier also suggests that boys or youths had some role in the cult, since the vase was clearly commissioned for dedication in the Sanctuary. Although the presence of Persephone on the vase might indicate a mythological interpretation for the scene, the running youths do not immediately fit in to any known story related to either goddess.

  • 40 Stroud (1968), L.c. (n. 3), p. 338-329, pl. 98i and j. In addition, another pinax is inscribed Alph (...)
  • 41 For the paian, most useful is I. Rutherford, Pindar’s ‘Paeans’. A Reading of the Fragments with a S (...)

22Yet a third hint of their participation in cult ritual may be implied in two more objects from the site. These will be discussed more fully by R. Stroud as part of his publication of the inscriptions, but I will simply draw attention to them here. In addition to the pinax that bears the name of Dionysos, two more pinakes are inscribed with words in the genitive that refer to ritual cries that accompany the sacrifice: paianos and oloyngous.40 The paian-cry is generally associated with males, the ololynge with females.41 Do they imply that at the time of sacrifice, choruses of boys and girls sang and danced? Quite possibly. Whether these performances would have generated large-scale sculptural dedications or not, however, is less clear. Here too we are faced with our problem of proportions, of female statues to male. This issue of ‘numbers’ takes on even more meaning when we consider that the statues were surely one of the more expensive kind of dedications that were brought to the Sanctuary. As such, they ought to reflect a primary concern of the cult. Ultimately, one interpretation may not explain all three types of dedications, the draped and nude male, and draped female.

  • 42 G. Schörner, Votive im romischen Griechenland. Untersuchungen zur spàthellenistischen und kaiserzei (...)
  • 43 Or, more correctly, one certain statue of a god (ibid., no. 534) and two possible statues of gods ( (...)
  • 44 M.M. Miles, The Athenian Agora XXXI. The City Eleusinion, Princeton 1998, p. 189, 191, nos. 10 and (...)

23Two other suggestions have been made for the understanding of these statues, although the limited size of this presentation does not permit an in-depth examination of either one. First, A. Chaniotis has suggested that the statues may have been dedicated by parents in thanks for the well-being of their children. Such an explanation would eliminate the need to distinguish between different types of dedications. But I have at least two reservations with regard to this interpretation. First, I am not sure that dedications like those begin as early as the sixth century B.C. Second, and perhaps more important, where such dedications are attested epigraphically, the dedication itself can be almost anything. In his publication of Late Hellenistic and Roman dedications in Greece, G. Schôrner presents at least six inscribed dedications made by parents on behalf of their children from the first century B.C. to the second century after Christ.42 The dedications consisted of statues of the deity,43 the gilding of a cult statue, an altar, votive limbs, and a plaque. Two inscribed statue bases from the City Eleusinian in the Athenian Agora did probably support portraits of a daughter, Archippe, and a son and/or brother, but these date to the mid fourth century B.C.44 The statues from the Corinthian sanctuary seem less like individualized portraits and more like symbolic images.

  • 45 C. Rolley, “Le sanctuaire des dieux patrooi et le Thesmophorion de Thasos,” BCH 89 (1965), p. 441-4 (...)
  • 46 Rolley, o.c. (n. 44), p. 463-464

24Second, Chr. Mitsopoulou has drawn attention to the Thesmophorion on Thasos, which was apparently more than simply a sanctuary to Demeter and Kore.45 There, twelve stelai were found, seven of which were inscribed in the genitive with a group name and that of Zeus Patroos and other deities. Roux argued convincingly that these names were those of civic groups, the patrai, representing some early division of the polity. He proposed that the stelai were set up in a subsidiary shrine in the Thesmophorion, where offerings could be made to the gods and possibly also rituals enacted for the induction of citizens and foreigners into a group. The stelai do not appear to be dedications in themselves but rather ‘sign-boards’ for the various patrai. As such, Rolley believes that they marked the positions of altars where sacrifices could be made and where the festival of the Apatouria was celebrated.46 Unfortunately, no dedications were found there that could in any way parallel what exists at Corinth, nor has anything been discovered in the Corinthian sanctuary that might point to comparable ‘theoi patrooi’. Nevertheless, the placement of the Thasian shrine of the Patrooi in or next to the Thesmophorion emphasizes the civic importance of the two goddesses, a point that could bear investigation in Corinth as well.

25It is regrettable that dedicatory inscriptions for the statues are lacking. As a result, we cannot judge whether the statues were dedicated by the city, by Sanctuary officials, or by parents. Indeed, we do not know what role the Sanctuary played in the civic life of the city. How do you evaluate private versus public cult in a sanctuary of this size? The sheer amount of material recovered from the site and the great number of permanent dining structures, which now seem to have once continued nearly to the base of Acrocorinth, certainly suggest that it was important.

26In the end, it is a little disturbing that the ritual that generated these dedications does not seem to be reflected in the minor finds. The thousands of figurines, tens of thousands of kalathiskoi, the miniature hydrias, the more than 4000 Greek lamps, the loomweights and jewelry are all typical of sanctuaries to Demeter and Kore throughout the Greek world, sanctuaries, moreover, in which the female is dominant. Yet the statues presented here may be unique to Corinth. We must take them as a warning that our understanding of how these sanctuaries functioned can be distorted by the fortuitousness of preservation, and that generalizations about cult can be misleading.

Captions

27Fig. 1. Peplophoros (SF-64-56).

28Fig. 2. Draped Male (SF-64-12).

29Fig. 3. Draped Male (SF-65-14).

30Fig. 4. Nude Male (SF-64-13) over outline of Piraeus Youth.

31Fig. 5. Outline Style Kotyle (C-65-291).

Notes

1 The sanctuary is published in the following fascicles of Corinth XVIII, The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore: E.G. Pemberton, XVIII.1, The Greek Pottery, Princeton, 1989; K.W. Slane, XVIII.2, The Roman Pottery and Lamps, Princeton, 1990; N. Bookidis, R.S. Stroud, XVIIL3, Topography and Architecture, Princeton, 1997; G.S. Merker, Corinth XVIII.4, Terracotta Figurines of the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods, Princeton, 2000. References to earlier publications can be found in those volumes. The terracotta sculpture presented here will form part 5, and was submitted for publication by the American School of Classical Studies in 2006. The present article is a summary of the principle conclusions presented more fully there.

2 The drawings are by Roxanna Doxan, the photographs by I. Ioannidou, L. Bartziotou.

3 R.S. Stroud, “The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth, Preliminary Report II: 1964-1965,” Hesperia 37 (1968), p. 325, pl. 95.c, e.

4 For the head, see R.S. Stroud, “The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth, Preliminary Report I: 1961-1962,” Hesperia 34 (1965), p. 11, pl. 3d; part of the back in Stroud 1968, l.c. (n. 3), p. 325, pl. 95d; N. Bookidis, J.E. FISHER, “The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth, Preliminary Report IV: 1969-1970,” Hesperia 41 (1972), p. 317, pl. 63d. See also N. Bookidis, “Classicism in Clay,” in Πραϰτιϰά του ΧΙΙ Διεθνούς Συνεδρίου Κλασιϰής Αρχαιολογίας, Αθήνα 4-10 Σεπτεμβρίου, 1983, vol. 3, Athens, 1988, p. 18-21.

5 For the Piraeus Youth, see R. Lullies, M. Hirmer, Greek Sculpture, London, 1960 [1957], trans. A. Bullock, p. 86-87, pl. 198.

6 For the type, see T. Hadzisteliou-Price, “The Type of the Crouching Child and ‘Temple Boys’,” ABSA 64 (1969), p. 95-111.

7 For a discussion of this subject in conjunction with the Archaic korai from the Athenian Acropolis, see C.M. Keesling, The Votive Statues of the Athenian Acropolis, Cambridge, 2003, p. 144-161.

8 For the Upper Terrace in the Greek period, see Bookidis and Stroud, o.c. (n. 1), p. 253272. Much of the torso of the 5th century draped male, SF-65-14, was found there lying on bedrock in grid-square R:17.

9 For these see Merker, o.c. (n. 1).

10 Ibid., p. 334. The Archaic figurines are being prepared for publication by S. Langdon.

11 Ibid, p. 334-336.

12 See, for example, the semi-draped torsos shown in preliminary publication in Stroud 1968, l.c. (n. 3), pl. 97d, and Bookidis and Fisher, l.c. (n. 4), pl. 63c.

13 The bibliography on this subject is vast. Most useful are a series of papers presented in D.B. Dodd and C.A. Faraone, Initiation in Ancient Greek Rituals and Narratives. New Critical Perspectives, London 2003, and, in particular, that of F. Graf, “Initiation. A concept with a troubled history,” p. 3-24, who reviews the whole question of initiation and maturation rites and their scholarship.

14 C.K. Williams, “Pre-Roman Cults in the Area of the Forum of Ancient Corinth,” (Diss., University of Pennsylvania), 1978, p. 42-43; S. Herbert, “The Torch-Race at Corinth,” in M.A. del Chiaro (ed.), Corinthiaca. Studies in Honor of Darrell A. Amyx, Columbia, Mo., 1986, p. 29-35.

15 Compare the accounts in E. Will, Korinthiaka: recherches sur l’histore et la civilisation de Corinthe des origines aux guerres médiques, Paris, 1955, p. 85-122; A. Brelich, Paides e Parthenoi, Rome, 1969 (Incunabula graeca, 36), p. 355-365; S.I. Johnston, “Corinthian Medea and the Cult of Hera Akraia,” in J.J. Clauss, S.I. Johnston (eds.), Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy and Art, Princeton, 1997, p. 44-70; and C.O. Pache, Baby and Child Heroes in Ancient Greece, Chicago, 2004, p. 9-48.

16 N.J. Richardson, The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Oxford, 1974, p. 114-116, ll. 231-255. On Demeter as Kourotrophos, see Hadzisteliou-Price, l.c. (n. 6), and E. Simon, “Griechische Muttergottheiten,” in G. Bauchhenss, G. Neumann (eds.), Matronen und verwandte Gottheiten, Ergebnisse eines Kolloquiums veranstaltet von der Gottinger Akademiekommission fur die Altertumskunde Mittel- undNordeuropas, Koln, 1987 (BJBeih. 44), p. 157-169, esp. p. 164 ff.

17 Merker, o.c. (n. 1), p. 117-124, 337-338.

18 Bookidis and Stroud, o.c. (n. 1) S-T:21, p. 260-266.

19 For the court, see ibid., p. 245-248. Both T. Becker (Griechische Stufenanlagen. Untersuchungen zur Architektur, Munster, 2003, p. 235-239) and J. Mylonopoulos (“Greek Sanctuaries as Places of Communication through Rituals: An Archaelogical Perspective,” in E. Stavrianopoulou [ed.], Ritual and Communication in the Graeco-Roman World, Liège, 2006 [Kernos, suppl. 16], p. 95) disagree, placing whatever ritual may have been enacted entirely on the very narrow terrace at the base of the steps. Their arguments are based on a strict functional division of the sanctuary into its separate parts. While I would agree that there were divisions between the areas for worship and those for dining, I would disagree that the small theater could not have been used for viewing activities in the court immediately below it. The terrace associated with the steps is extremely small and would only allow limited presentations, or, to use a modern analogy, little more than room for a professor to lecture to his students.

20 H.P. Foley (ed.), The Homeric Hymn to Demeter’: Translation, Commentary and Interpretative Essays, Princeton, 1994, p. 66.

21 Pemberton, o.c. (n. 1), p 133-134, no. 292 (C-65-291), fig. 34, p1. 32.

22 When one estimates the space taken up by the two runners, there is not sufficient room for a third figure.

23 Most recently, I. McPhee, “Classical Vases in Ancient Corinth,” BICS 47 (2004), p. 3-4, figs. 3-4; also Merker, o.c. (n. 1), p. 334-335.

24 V. Magnien, Les mystères d’Éleusis; leurs origines, le rituel de leurs initiations, Paris, 19503 [1929], p. 72-73 for the sources. See also R. SIMMS, “The Eleusinia in the Sixth to Fourth Centuries B.C.,” GRBS 16 (1975), p. 269-279; K. Clinton, “IG I2 5, the Eleusinia and the Eleusinians,” AJP 100 (1979), p. 1-12.

25 Β. Ashmole, “Torch-racing at Rhamnous,” AJA 66 (1962), p. 233-234, who first identified a fragmentary relief of a victor in a torch-race as a dedication to Demeter and Kore; O. Palagia, D. Lewis, “The Ephebes of Erechtheis, 333/2 B.C. and their dedication,” ABSA 84 (1989), p. 333- 344, who reassign to Nemesis and Themis, and Β. Petrakos, δμος το αμνοντος. Σύνοψη τν νασϰφν ϰα τν ἐρευνν (1813-1998), Athens, 1999, I, p. 287-288, fig. 199; II, p. 91, no. 106, who returns it to the two goddesses because of additional joins to the dedication.

26 IG V.1 213, l. 31; R. Parker, “Demeter, Dionysos and the Spartan Pantheon,” in R. Hägg, N. Marinatos, G.C. Nordquist (eds.), Early Greek cult practice. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium, Swedish Institute at Athens, 26-29 June 1986, Stockholm, 1988 (ActAth-4°, 38), p. 99-103.

27 Hesychius, s.v. νδρομώ.

28 M.B. Hatzopoulos, Cultes et rites de passage en Macédoine, Athens, 1994 (Meletemata, 19).

29 These are discussed in Merker, o.c. (n. 1), p. 327-333.

30 Stroud 1968, l.c. (n. 3), p. 328-329, pl. 98h.

31 Merker, o.c. (n. 1), p. 77,113, 332, 338, C273, pl. 22.

32 Ibid., p. 76-77, 113, C268-272, pls. 22-23. For piping satyrs and Pan, p. 78-79, 113-114, C274-277, pl. 23.

33 Ibid., p. 185, 188, 193, 237, 239-240, H302, H319, H333, pls. 49, 51, 52.

34 Pausanias, II, 11, 3: Phyraia near Phlious; II, 37, 1-2, Argive Lerna; VIII, 25, 2-3, Thelpous- sa in Arcadia.

35 G.L. Ham, “The Choes and Anthesteria Reconsidered: Male Maturation Rites and the Peloponnesian Wars,” in M.W. Padilla (ed), Rites of Passage in Ancient Greece: Literature, Religion, Society, Lewisberg, Pa., 1999, p. 201-218.

36 L. Deubner, Attische Feste, Berlin, 1932, p. 142-147. P. Vidal-Naquet, The Black Hunter: Forms of Thought and Forms of Society in the Greek World, trans. A. Szegedy-Maszak, Baltimore, Md. 1986, p. 114-137, emphasizes the connection of this festival with Athena Skiras. For a possible post-Kleisthenic association of Dionysos with these festivals, see S.C. Humphreys, ‘The Strangeness of Gods. Historical perspectives on the interpretation of Athenian religion, Oxford, 2004, p. 228-237.

37 IK Clinton, The Sacred Officials of the Eleusinian Mysteries, Philadelphia, 1974 (TAPhS vol. 64, pt. 3), p. 98-114.

38 See Keesling, o.c. (n. 7), p. 101 and n. 13, who states that there is no evidence for the dedication of individual statues of female sacerdotal personnel on the Acropolis before the late 5th century B.C. On the other hand, the evidence from Samos, such as the Geneleos dedication, presumably shows that individuals could dedicate statues of themselves.

39 Stroud (1968), l.c. (n. 3), p. 328, pl. 98g; Bookidis and Stroud, o.c. (n. 1), p. 31, 157, no. 413, fig. 8, pl. 46.

40 Stroud (1968), L.c. (n. 3), p. 338-329, pl. 98i and j. In addition, another pinax is inscribed Alphiaias, a name that is usually associated with Artemis, ibid, pl. 98k.

41 For the paian, most useful is I. Rutherford, Pindar’s ‘Paeans’. A Reading of the Fragments with a Survey of the Genre, Oxford, 2001, p. 3-137, who surveys the paian as a genre. For the ololyge, see L. Deubner, “Ololyge und Verwandtes,” Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist. Klasse 1, Berlin, 1941, p. 3-28 [repr. in Kleine Schriften zur klassischen Altertumskunde, IKonig- stein/Ts. 1982, p. 607-634].

42 G. Schörner, Votive im romischen Griechenland. Untersuchungen zur spàthellenistischen und kaiserzeitlichen Kunst- und Religionsgeschichte, Wiesbaden, 2003, p. 24, 251, 253, 263, 365, 436, 499, nos. 101, 114, 146, 534, 809, 1084.

43 Or, more correctly, one certain statue of a god (ibid., no. 534) and two possible statues of gods (nos. 101 and 146).

44 M.M. Miles, The Athenian Agora XXXI. The City Eleusinion, Princeton 1998, p. 189, 191, nos. 10 and 16.

45 C. Rolley, “Le sanctuaire des dieux patrooi et le Thesmophorion de Thasos,” BCH 89 (1965), p. 441-483. The inscriptions are presented on p. 441-452. Rolle/s identifications are reviewed in A. Muller, Thasos XVII. Les terres cuites votives du Thesmophorion : de l’atelier au sanctuaire, Paris, 1996, p. 9-15.

46 Rolley, o.c. (n. 44), p. 463-464

Notes de fin

1 I would like to thank the organizers, Drs. C. Prêtre and S. Huysecom-Haxhi, for inviting me to participate in this conference.

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E-mail: nbookidis@gmail.com

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