The Aglaureion (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: Αγλαύρειο), or the Sanctuary of Aglauros, was an ancient sanctuary located in the
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...
in
Athens, Greece
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. It was dedicated to
Aglauros, a Greek mythological figure who was the daughter of
King Cecrops and the sister of
Erysichthon,
Pandrosus
Pandrosos or Pandrosus (Ancient Greek: Πάνδροσος) was known in Greek myth as one of the three daughters of Cecrops I, the first king of Athens, and Aglaurus, daughter of King Actaeus.
Family
Pandrosus' two sisters were Aglauros and ...
, and
Herse
In Greek mythology, Herse ( "dew") may refer to the following figures:
*Herse, daughter of Selene by Zeus, see Ersa.
* Herse, daughter of Cecrops.
*Herse, one of the many consorts of King Danaus of Libya and mother of his daughters Hippodice an ...
. The sanctuary was believed to be the site where Aglauros had sacrificed herself to protect the city from invasion.
Discovery
In 1980, during excavations of the
Peripatos, archaeologists found on the eastern slope of the Acropolis a honorary stele for Aglauros, dating to the 3rd century BC. It is believed the stele once stood as part of the
peribolos
In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peribolos was a court enclosed by a wall, especially one surrounding a sacred area such as a temple, shrine, or altar. This area, however, is not a necessary element to these structures since those built ...
of the Aglaureion. The stele is now held by the Acropolis Museum (inventory number Ακρ. 13372).
The site had been incorrectly ascribed to other sanctuaries by archaeologists before.
See also
*
Arrhephoria
Arrhephoria was a feast among the Athenians, instituted in honor of Athena. The word is derived from the Greek term Ἀρρηφόρια, which is composed of ἄρρητος, "unspoken, not to be divulged", and φέρω, "I carry". This feast wa ...
*
Plynteria
References
External links
*http://www.stoa.org/athens/sites/eastslope.html
Acropolis of Athens
{{AncientGreece-stub
Temples in ancient Athens