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A xoanon (, el, ξόανον; plural: el, ξόανα , from the verb el, ξέειν, , to carve or scrape ood was an Archaic wooden
cult image In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rom ...
of
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
. Classical Greeks associated such cult objects, whether
aniconic Aniconism is the absence of artistic representations (''icons'') of the natural and supernatural worlds, or it is the absence of representations of certain figures in religions. It is a feature of various cultures, particularly of cultures which ...
or
effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
, with the legendary
Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdi ...
. Many such cult images were preserved into historical times, though none are known to have survived to the modern day, except as copies in stone or marble. In the 2nd century CE,
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: * Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...
described numerous xoana in his ''Description of Greece'', notably the image of Hera in her temple at Samos. "The statue of the Samian Hera, as Aethilos /nowiki>sicThe_name_''Aethilos''_in_the_available_text_is_thought_to_be_a_mis-spelling_of_''Aethlios''..html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sicThe name ''Aethilos'' in the available text is thought to be a mis-spelling of ''Aethlios''.">sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sicThe name ''Aethilos'' in the available text is thought to be a mis-spelling of ''Aethlios''./nowiki> says, was a wooden beam at first, but afterwards, when Prokles was ruler, it was humanized in form". In Pausanias' travels he never mentions seeing a xoanon of a "mortal man".


Types of xoana

Some types of archaic xoana may be reflected in archaic marble versions, such as the pillar-like " Hera of Samos" ( Louvre Museum), the flat " Hera of Delos" or some archaic kouros-type figures that may have been used to represent
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
. A different type of cult figure in which the face, hands, and feet were carved of marble and the rest of the body made of wood is called
acrolith An acrolith is a composite sculpture made of stone together with other materials such as wood or inferior stone such as limestone, as in the case of a figure whose clothed parts are made of wood, while the exposed flesh parts such as head, hands, ...
. The wooden part was usually covered either with cloth or gold leaf.


Woods and textiles

For Strabo, the "carved" xoanon might also be of ivory;Thus Strabo describes the
chryselephantine Chryselephantine sculpture (from Greek grc, χρυσός, chrysós, gold, label=none, and grc, ελεφάντινος, elephántinos, ivory, label=none) is sculpture made with gold and ivory. Chryselephantine cult statues enjoyed high status ...
sculptures of Phidian Zeus and Polyclitan Hera as xoana, and even the marble Nemesis at Rhamnus, as Frazer noted (Frazer 1897).
Pausanias, however, always uses ''xoanon'' in its strict sense, to denote a wooden image; at Corinth Pausanias noted that "The sanctuary of Athena Chalinitis is by the theater, and near it is a naked xoanon of Herakles, said to be by Daidalos. All the works of this artist, though somewhat uncouth to look at, nevertheless have a touch of the divine in them." Similar xoana were ascribed by the Greeks to the contemporary of Daedalus, the equally legendary Smilis. Such figures were often clothed in real textiles, such as the peplos that was woven and ceremonially delivered to Athena on the Acropolis of Athens into historic times. The wood of which a xoanon was carved was often symbolic: olivewood,The olive is sacred to Athena. pearwood, ''
Vitex ''Vitex'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae.List of Genera in Lamiaceae. At: Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below). It has ...
'', oak,The oak is especially sacred to Zeus. are all specifically mentioned. In Athens, in the
Erechtheum The Erechtheion (latinized as Erechtheum /ɪˈrɛkθiəm, ˌɛrɪkˈθiːəm/; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο) or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple-telesterion on the north side of the Acropolis ...
, an ancient olivewood effigy of
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
(the Palladion) was preserved. The Athenians believed it had fallen to earth from the heavens, as a gift to Athens; it was still to be seen in the 2nd century CE. On the island of Icaria a rustic piece of wood was venerated for the spirit of
Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with Sel ...
it contained or represented (Burkert). Ovid describes how in the cave of
Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...
numerous wooden images are to be seen in .


Copies of venerable images

The importance of the xoanon in local cult ensured that it would be carefully copied when colonies were founded, and sent out with the colonists from the mother-city. Strabo (4.1) reports that the metropolis
Massilia Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western A ...
(modern Marseille) was founded by Phocaeans. Their cult of Artemis of Ephesus was transferred with the colony, justified in the founding myth by a dream, and the artistic design of the cult image — Strabo uses the term ''diathesis'' ( Greek διάθεσις) — was re-exported to Massiliote sub-colonies, "where they keep the diathesis of the xoanon the same, and all the other usages precisely the same as is customary in the mother-city". Strabo, as quoted in Similarly, cementing cultural ties between the Phocaean colony at
Massilia Massalia (Greek: Μασσαλία; Latin: Massilia; modern Marseille) was an ancient Greek colony founded ca. 600 BC on the Mediterranean coast of present-day France, east of the river Rhône, by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea, in Western A ...
and the Phocaean community in Rome, "Among the others, the Romans have consecrated Artemis' xoanon on the Aventine, taking the same model from the Massiliotes" (Strabo, 4.1.5). So the cult image of the Lady of Ephesus, identified as
Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with Sel ...
in Greek understanding, was established as Diana Aventina at Rome, of whom marble copies survive (see illustration at right).


See also

* Anthropomorphic wooden cult figurines of Central and Northern Europe *
Daidala The ''daidala'' is a type of sculpture attributed to the legendary Greek artist Daedalus, who is connected in legend both to Bronze Age Crete and to the earliest period of Archaic sculpture in Bronze Age Greece. The legends about Daedalus reco ...
*
Cycladic art The ancient Cycladic culture flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea from c. 3300 to 1100 BCE. Along with the Minoan civilization and Mycenaean Greece, the Cycladic people are counted among the three major Aegean cultures. Cycladic art ther ...


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * *{{cite book , author=Donohue, A. A. , title=Xoana and the Origins of Greek Sculpture , year=1988 Ancient Greek religion Greek mythology Cult images