The ''Potnia Theron'' (, ) or Mistress of Animals is a widespread motif in ancient art from the Mediterranean world and the

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran (or Persia), Anatolia and the Armenian highlands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As such, the fields of ancient Near East studies and Nea ...

, showing a central human, or human-like, female figure who grasps two animals, one to each side. Although the connections between images and concepts in the various ancient cultures concerned remain very unclear, such images are often referred to by the Greek term ''Potnia Theron'' regardless of culture of origin. The term is first used once by

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

as a descriptor of

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

and often used to describe female divinities associated with animals. The word '' Potnia'', meaning mistress or lady, was a

Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the earliest attested form of the Greek language. It was spoken on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC). The language is preserved in inscriptions in Linear B, a script first atteste ...

word inherited by

Classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...

, with the same meaning, cognate to

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

''.'' The oldest such depiction, the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, is a clay sculpture from Çatalhöyük in modern Turkey, made c 6,000 BC. This motif is more common in later Near Eastern and Mesopotamian art with a male figure, called the Master of Animals. Homer's mention of ''Potnia Theron'' refers to Artemis;

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of student ...

describes this mention as "a well established formula". An Artemis-type deity, a "Mistress of the Animals", is often assumed to have existed in prehistoric religion and often referred to as ''Potnia Theron'' with some scholars positing a relationship between Artemis and goddesses depicted in Minoan art. An early example of Italian ''Potnia theròn'' is in the Museo civico archeologico di Monte Rinaldo in Italy: a plate illustrates a goddess that wears a long dress and holds hands with two

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

esses. In the

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

, Virgil mentions that within Psychro's Cave, in Crete, there lived the goddess Cybele whose chariot was drawn by two lions. File:NAMA Artémis Orthia.jpg, Artemis Orthia in the usual stance of ''Potnia Theron'' on an archaic ivory

votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

, ( National Archaeological Museum of Athens) File:Pithos_102972x.jpg, Relief on a pithos, 625-600 BC. National Archaeological Museum of Athens File:Artemis, Parian pottery plate, 675-600 BC, AM Mykonos, 177233.jpg, Hypothetical restoration

as Mistress of Animals, Parian pottery, 675–600 BC File:Emprunte d'un sceau de Cnossos.jpg, Minoan goddess flanked by two lionesses (note the tufted tails)

References

{{Reflist

See also

References

Further reading