Agrotera
Agrotera ( ancient Greek Ἀγροτέρα , "huntress") is an epicle of the Greek goddess Artemis , with whom she was worshiped as the goddess of hunting. Their cult is palpable in almost all of ancient Greece, and their cult in Athens is best passed down .
In Athens Artemis Agrotera had a sanctuary dedicated to her , which was located in a district of the Demos Agryle on the Ilisos called " Agrai " . Her cult statue showed her carrying a bow. In the aitiological explanation of the cult, Artemis went hunting here after she came to Attica from her place of birth, Delos . In her honor, on the sixth Boëdromion annually, the feast of Charisteria was celebrated, which was established after the battle of Marathon (490 BC). The Archon Polemarchos sacrificed 500 goats to her and the god of war Enyalios at the festival, which were led to the sanctuary by armored Ephebe . Since the victory against the Persians was already achieved in the month of Metageitnion , a renewal of a cult act for Artemis Agrotera that already existed on this date is assumed. Artemis Agrotera was entitled to ten percent of the proceeds for prisoners to finance the sanctuary .
In Aigeira , after the victory over the Sicyonians, a sanctuary was donated to her, the location of which was determined by a goat, which, as in Athens, suggests a goat sacrifice. Goats were also sacrificed to her in Sparta . A temple in Megalopolis is said to have been founded by the Heraclean Aristodemus , another temple is known from Phanagoreia . In Megara she had a temple together with Apollon Agraios , which Alkathoos is said to have set up in the aitiological story after he had killed the Kithaironian lion . There is also evidence of their veneration in Euboea , Cyrene , Syracuse and Olympia .
literature
- Georg Wentzel : Agrotera . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 906 f.