Potnia theron

Potnia theron ( ancient Greek Πότνια ϑηϱῶν , ruler of the game ' ) was a female deity from antiquity who appeared as the mistress of wild animals, but also mythical creatures and hermaphrodites, and was responsible for the protection of wild animals. The term appears for the first time in Homer , in the 21st book of the Iliad , verse 470, and is equated there with the goddess Artemis .

Iliad

Apollo and Artemis, medallion on an Attic jug

In Homer's Iliad , Artemis turns to her twin brother Apollon , who evades a fight with Poseidon that he does not intend to wage for the sake of “mortals”. Verses 470 to 477 of the 21st chant read in the original Greek text and the German translation by Thassilo von Scheffer ( Potnia theron in the original Greek text for clarity in green letters):

.DELTA..di-elect cons κασιγνήτη μάλα νείκεσε τὸν πότνια θηρῶν
Ἄρτεμις ἀγροτέρη, καὶ ὀνείδειον φάτο μῦθον ·
φεύγεις δὴ ἑκάεργε, .DELTA..di-elect cons νίκην Ποσειδάωνι
πᾶσαν ἐπέτρεψας, μέλεον δέ οἱ εὖχος ἔδωκας ·
νηπύτιε τί νυ τόξον ἔχεις ἀνεμώλιον αὔτως;
μή σευ νῦν ἔτι πατϱὸς ἐνὶ μεγάϱοισιν ἀκούσω
εὐχομένου, ὡς τὸ πϱὶν ἐν ἀϑανάτοισι ϑεοῖσιν,
ἄαντα Ποίζσιν, ἄντα Ποίζσιν.

But then his sister, the mistress of the game,
Artemis, who rushes through the waters, scolded him , and she began insulting:
"Are you really, O excellent archer, you are fleeing, and giving Poseidon
the victory and giving him the honor that he has won?"
Tor, why do you carry your bow so uselessly?
That I just won't hear you in the future in the father's hall.
Bragging words as once in the circle of the eternal gods:
You would bravely turn against Poseidon in battle. "

interpretation

Fresco of Potnia Theron from Akrotiri on the island of Santorini

Egyptian-influenced Minoan gold pendant from the 15th century BC With a presumably male lord of the animals with two geese and four snakes over three lotus blossoms, found on the island of Aegina

Potnia theron on a vessel from the island of Delos around 620 BC

Archaeologists, cultural and religious scholars transferred the term to a goddess from the Minoan culture (approx. 2000 BC to approx. 1400 BC ). From the New Palace period (1700 to 1450 BC) necklaces and tiaras with images of the Potnia theron and sea polyps were found in Kato Zakros . The only surviving mural depicting Potnia theron is a fresco from the Bronze Age Akrotiri on Santorini , on which the goddess is accompanied by a monkey and a griffin .

Further transmissions took place on other goddesses who were depicted together with animals and show power over them. These include images on the Aegean islands from the Archaic period , which are also referred to as Potnia theron.

The Potnia theron was equated with the goddess Artemis in the mythology of classical antiquity, in the Roman with Diana and in the Etruscan with Artumes .

A male equivalent is the Lord of the Animals , who occurs in the Minoan culture and various others and is also identified with the Horned God .

Linear B

The core part of the name Potnia , which roughly means mother goddess; In Knossos and Pylos several tablets in linear B with various other attributes were discovered:

po-ti-ni-ja (= Potnia)
a-ta-na po-ti-ni-ja and da-pu-ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja (= Atana Potnia)
a-si-wi-ja (= Potnia Aswia)
po-ti-ni-ja i-qe-ja (= Potnia Hikkweia or Potnia Hippeia)

literature

Solomon Luria: Pre-Greek cults in the Greek inscriptions of the Mycenaean period . In: Minos: Revista de filología egea . No. 5 . Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1957, ISSN 0544-3733 , p. 45 ff . ( dialnet.unirioja.es [PDF] via Potnia ).
John Chadwick : Potnia . In: Minos: Revista de filología egea . No. 5 . Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1957, ISSN 0544-3733 , p. 117–129 ( gredos.usal.es [PDF; 787 kB ] about Potnia ).
Chryssanthos A. Christou: Potnia Theron. An investigation into the origins, manifestations and changes in the shape of a deity. Thessaloniki 1968.
Martin Guggisberg : Flocks of birds in the wake of the great goddess. For a triplet bird vessel from the Giamalakis collection . In: Antike Kunst 41, 1998, pp. 71–86.
Robert Laffineur, Robin Hägg (Ed.): Potnia. Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age (Proceedings of the 8th International Aegean Conference Göteborg, Göteborg University, April 12-15, 2000; Aegaeum 22). Bopen 2001
Christoph Auffarth : Potnia theron. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01480-0 , Sp. 335-337.
Kristin Schuhmann: Beauty and the Beasts. The mistress of the animals in Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Greece . Master thesis. Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg March 2009, doi : 10.11588 / propylaeumdok.00000378 ( archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de [PDF; 2.7 MB ; accessed on February 20, 2014]).

Individual evidence

^ Wilhelm Pape , edited by Maximilian Sengebusch : Concise dictionary of the Greek language. Concise Greek-German dictionary . 3. Edition. tape 2 . Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig 1914, p. 690 ( zeno.org [accessed February 8, 2014]).
↑ Schuhmann: Beauty and the Beasts…. 2009, p. 15.
↑ Homer : Iliad . Dietrich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Leipzig, Twenty-First Song, p. 504 (Greek: Ἰλιάς . Translated by Thassilo von Scheffer ).
↑ Schuhmann: Beauty and the Beasts…. 2009, p. 10.

Web links

Commons : Potniai theron - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Illustration of Potnia theron on a Cretan seal stone ( Memento from August 28, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
Illustration of the Potnia theron on a lekythos, ca.490 BC. Chr. ( Memento of 4 March 2016 Internet Archive )

[1] Wilhelm Pape , edited by Maximilian Sengebusch : Concise dictionary of the Greek language. Concise Greek-German dictionary . 3. Edition. tape 2 . Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig 1914, p. 690 ( zeno.org [accessed February 8, 2014]).

[2] Schuhmann: Beauty and the Beasts…. 2009, p. 15.

[3] Homer : Iliad . Dietrich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Leipzig, Twenty-First Song, p. 504 (Greek: Ἰλιάς . Translated by Thassilo von Scheffer ).

[4] Schuhmann: Beauty and the Beasts…. 2009, p. 10.