ENTRY TYPE
General |
SUMMARY
Τhe pantheon of the Black Sea includes deities worshipped on the eastern coasts, Scythia, Thrace and the colonies of Asia Minor coasts. Apart from Apollo’s cult, who seems to have been the central god of the pantheon, Artemis, Aphrodite, Demeter and the Daughter/Persephone, Athena, Dionysus and Zeus were also worshipped. The cults of Hermes, the Mother of the Gods, Boreas, the Dioscuri, the Kabeiroi, the Nymphs, Helios (Sun), Asclepius, Poseidon, Ares, Hestia, Nike, Tyche, Perseus, Heracles and Parthenos, a local deity whose cult assimilated elements of Artemis’ cult and was associated with Iphigeneia, were less widely spread. Another feature was the cult of heroes, with Achilles holding an eminent position among them and the island of Leuke being the most important centre of his cult. Broadly speaking, there was a coexistence of different devotional traditions with an assimilation of local elements, while the role of Greek cults was very crucial as they acted as a link among the colonies. |
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