Jenny Wallensten : An underworld goddess as a city goddess? Demeter Chthonia in Hermione (zoom)

26. Mai 2021
18:15 Uhr - 19:15 Uhr

Jenny Wallensten, PhD, Director of the Swedish Institute at Athens

An underworld goddess as a city goddess? Demeter Chthonia in Hermione

The city of Hermione in the southern Argolid is mentioned already in the Iliad (Il. 2. 650) and was known in Antiquity for its purple production as well as for the intriguing sacrifice at the heart of a ritual to the main deity of the city, Demeter Chthonia (Paus. 2.35.5-8). This paper discusses the choice of Demeter with the epithet Chthonia as city protectress against the background of the ongoing archaeological project in Hermione (a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Argolid and the Swedish Institute at Athens under the direction of Dr. Alkestis Papadimitriou).