Anakion

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anakion , Anakeion or Anakaeum ( Greek  Ἀνάκιον or Ἀνάκειον or Ἀνακεῖον ) was called the temple of Dioscuri , Castor and Polydeukes in Athens in ancient times . The name is derived from her nickname Anakes (old Greek Ἄνακες = gentlemen ). The exact location of the temple is not known. Pausanias reports that it was below the Aglaureion .

In the sanctuary there were statues of the Dioscuri and their sons were shown sitting on horses. One of the walls of the temple was adorned with a picture of Polygnotus showing the wedding of the Leucippids . Next to it was a picture of the Mikon that represented the saga of the Argonauts .

Adoration

Once a year the Athenians celebrated the festival of Anakeia in honor of the Dioscuri. Cheese, barley cake, ripe olives and leeks were served at a banquet for Castor and Polydeukes in the Prytaneion . This simple meal was intended to remind of the simple way of life at the time of the Dioscuri. A column in the sanctuary is said to have regulated the division of a bull sacrifice. One third each was intended for the games, the priest and the taster, the so-called parasites .

The disarming of the citizens of Athens by Peisistratos is said to have happened in the Anakion. He called the citizens to the temple with weapons and came armed himself. He put down his gun and entered the sacred precinct. Now he began to speak to the citizens, but so quietly that they could not understand him. First they asked him to come to the gate of the sanctuary to speak to them; when he did not do so, they laid down their weapons - it was forbidden to enter the temple armed - and came closer to hear him better. Now Peisistratos' followers collected the weapons and brought them to the nearby Aglaureion. Too late, the citizens realized that this was just a ploy to take their weapons away from them.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hesychios of Alexandria , Lexicon post Ioannem Albertum (Vol. 1).
  2. ^ Gustav Eduard Benseler , Benseler's Greek-German School Dictionary , Teubner, Leipzig, 1911.
  3. ^ Pausanias, Travels in Greece , 1, 18, 2.
  4. ^ Pausanias, Travels in Greece , 1, 18, 1.
  5. ^ Athenaios , Deipnosophistai , 4, 14.
  6. ^ Athenaios , Deipnosophistai , 6, 27
  7. ^ Polyainos , Strategika , 1, 21, 2.