Aristarche

Aristarche is a Greek mythological figure said by Strabo (60 BC – 20 AD) to have been an Ephesian woman of rank who went with the Phocaean colonists to Massalia, where she became a priestess of Artemis in the newly built temple.

Legend

Before sailing to Gaul, the Phocaean colonists were told by an oracle to take a guide from Artemis of Ephesus, and thus they stopped in Ephesus.[1] There, the goddess appeared in a dream to Aristarche, one of the most esteemed women in the region, and instructed her to go with the Phocaeans taking a statue from the temple with her, in order to establish a new cult in Massalia.[2][3] Thus she presented herself to the Phocaean colonists and embarked with them to Gaul, carrying religious objects in order to found a temple dedicated to Artemis.[2]

On arriving at Massalia, the Phocaeans erected the temple to Artemis of Ephesus and honored Aristarche by making her the priestess.[3]

This explains the mention of an Ephesion (a temple dedicated to Artemis of Ephesus)[4] dedicated to the goddess at Marseilles in Strabo's version.[5][6][7][8][9] For according to Strabo, in Massilia is a replica of Ephesion.[4]

References
  1. "L'Éphésienne hors d'Éphèse". www.cndp.fr. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  2. A.J. Graham (2017). Collected Papers on Greek Colonization. Brill. p. 337. ISBN 9789004351066. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  3. "Massi'lia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854). Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  4. Belayche, Nicole (2015-09-01). "Religions de Rome et du monde romain. Conférences de l'année 2013-2014". Annuaire de l'École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Section des sciences religieuses. Résumé des conférences et travaux (in French) (122). doi:10.4000/asr.1360. ISSN 0183-7478. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  5. "L'Éphésienne hors d'Éphèse". www.cndp.fr. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  6. Corinne Bonnet (2015). "Des chapelles d'or pour apaiser les dieux. Au sujet des aphidrymata carthaginois offerts à la métropole tyrienne en 310 av. J.-C". Mythos • Numero 9 (in French): 71–86.
  7. Nic Ulmi (16 October 2016). "La vie nomade des dieux antiques". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  8. François de, Polignac (2013-06-24). Les Panthéons des cités : Des origines à la Périégèse de Pausanias. Presses universitaires de Liège. ISBN 9782821828964. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  9. "Aristarchè, vers 600 av. J.C. - AFV". afv-marseille.org (in French). Retrieved 2018-07-04.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.