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2. Identifier Déméter Thesmophoros et son culte en Sicile à partir des données matérielles

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The Akragas Dialogue
This chapter is in the book The Akragas Dialogue

Abstract

A great number of anonymous Sicilian sanctuaries have been attributed to Demeter Thesmophoros based on comparisons with the topographic, architectural, and material evidence from the Athenian Thesmophoria. The identity of the worshipped deity is deduced from some common elements pointing to a chthonic goddess, honoured by women to stimulate fertility. The archaeological remains are compared with textual evidence in order to reconstruct the associated rituals. The present paper questions this combinatory approach through a methodical examination of the archaeological and textual evidence. Such analysis reveals a great number of uncertainties with previous interpretations, which nuances the picture of an island consecrated to the same chthonic goddesses.

Abstract

A great number of anonymous Sicilian sanctuaries have been attributed to Demeter Thesmophoros based on comparisons with the topographic, architectural, and material evidence from the Athenian Thesmophoria. The identity of the worshipped deity is deduced from some common elements pointing to a chthonic goddess, honoured by women to stimulate fertility. The archaeological remains are compared with textual evidence in order to reconstruct the associated rituals. The present paper questions this combinatory approach through a methodical examination of the archaeological and textual evidence. Such analysis reveals a great number of uncertainties with previous interpretations, which nuances the picture of an island consecrated to the same chthonic goddesses.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Note from the Editors V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. 1. Closing in on the Gods. Indirect Communication Between Mortals and Immortals 9
  6. 2. Identifier Déméter Thesmophoros et son culte en Sicile à partir des données matérielles 27
  7. 3. Dedicants, Offerings, and Sacrifice 59
  8. 4. Introduction to the Study of Sacred Spaces in Ancient Agrigento 79
  9. 5. Il santuario di Zeus Olympios ad Agrigento: al di là del tempio monumentale 99
  10. 6. Sacelli dimenticati nell’area urbana di Akragas 125
  11. 7. Nuove considerazioni sul tempietto tripartito ad Est di Porta V 133
  12. 8. Investigating the Terracotta Roofs of Akragas 149
  13. 9. The ‘Upper Sanctuary of Demeter’ at S. Biagio in Akragas: A Review 169
  14. 10. Le offerte di manufatti bronzei nella pratica votiva agrigentina 201
  15. 11. Depositions of Sacrificial Material and Feasting Remains from the Extra-Urban Sanctuary of S. Anna (Agrigento) 221
  16. 12. Sometimes Pigs Fly 253
  17. 13. Depositional Practices in the Bitalemi Sanctuary in the Archaic Period: Form and Interpretation 269
  18. 14. Il santuario di Zeus Meilichios a Selinunte: Dati e materiali inediti per la rilettura del contesto 291
  19. 15. I santuari di Demetra Malophoros e Zeus Meilichios a Selinunte: Le nuove indagini 315
  20. 16. The New Investigations of the Institute of Fine Arts–NYU in the Main Urban Sanctuary of Selinunte 353
  21. 17. New Evidence for Sacred Structures and Ritual Practices in Himera, Piano del Tamburino – Urbanistic Considerations 371
  22. 18. A Typology of Votive Offerings: Observations Regarding a Sacred Area on the Piano del Tamburino, Himera 399
  23. 19. Rites and Mysteries on the Acropolis of Akrai: Preliminary Remarks on a New Sanctuary Dedicated to the Cult of Demeter and Kore 405
  24. Index 417
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110498783-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Note from the Editors V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. 1. Closing in on the Gods. Indirect Communication Between Mortals and Immortals 9
  6. 2. Identifier Déméter Thesmophoros et son culte en Sicile à partir des données matérielles 27
  7. 3. Dedicants, Offerings, and Sacrifice 59
  8. 4. Introduction to the Study of Sacred Spaces in Ancient Agrigento 79
  9. 5. Il santuario di Zeus Olympios ad Agrigento: al di là del tempio monumentale 99
  10. 6. Sacelli dimenticati nell’area urbana di Akragas 125
  11. 7. Nuove considerazioni sul tempietto tripartito ad Est di Porta V 133
  12. 8. Investigating the Terracotta Roofs of Akragas 149
  13. 9. The ‘Upper Sanctuary of Demeter’ at S. Biagio in Akragas: A Review 169
  14. 10. Le offerte di manufatti bronzei nella pratica votiva agrigentina 201
  15. 11. Depositions of Sacrificial Material and Feasting Remains from the Extra-Urban Sanctuary of S. Anna (Agrigento) 221
  16. 12. Sometimes Pigs Fly 253
  17. 13. Depositional Practices in the Bitalemi Sanctuary in the Archaic Period: Form and Interpretation 269
  18. 14. Il santuario di Zeus Meilichios a Selinunte: Dati e materiali inediti per la rilettura del contesto 291
  19. 15. I santuari di Demetra Malophoros e Zeus Meilichios a Selinunte: Le nuove indagini 315
  20. 16. The New Investigations of the Institute of Fine Arts–NYU in the Main Urban Sanctuary of Selinunte 353
  21. 17. New Evidence for Sacred Structures and Ritual Practices in Himera, Piano del Tamburino – Urbanistic Considerations 371
  22. 18. A Typology of Votive Offerings: Observations Regarding a Sacred Area on the Piano del Tamburino, Himera 399
  23. 19. Rites and Mysteries on the Acropolis of Akrai: Preliminary Remarks on a New Sanctuary Dedicated to the Cult of Demeter and Kore 405
  24. Index 417
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