Apollo Amazonius ( Gr. ) was a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

ic epithet of the Greek god

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, under which he was worshiped, and had a temple at

Pyrrhichus Pyrrhichus or Pyrrhichos () was a town of ancient Laconia, situated about the centre of the promontory ending in Cape Taenarum, and distant 40 '' stadia'' from the river Scyras. According to some it derived its name from Pyrrhus, the son of Achil ...

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

. The name was derived either from the belief that the mythological

Amazons The Amazons (Ancient Greek: ', singular '; in Latin ', ') were a people in Greek mythology, portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, Labours of Heracles, the ''Argonautica'' and the ''Iliad''. ...

had penetrated into the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

region as far as Pyrrhichus, or that they themselves had founded Apollo's temple there. Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' iii. 25. §2 The sole known reference to this etymology, in Pausanias' ''Description of Greece'', is an oddity in the study of the Amazon mythological tradition. It is strange to hear of the Amazons in Laconia, a region in no way associated with the usual tale of their invasion of

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

. Pausanias suggests a large Amazonian army halted there, which is also at odds with the

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

n mythological tradition which indicates only a few Amazons were separated from the host after their defeat by

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

. Secondly, this Apollo is mentioned as a companion of the goddess

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 ...

, which was also unusual, and which has led some scholars to speculate that "Apollo Amazonius" indicates not the traditional Greek Apollo, but a distinctly non-Hellenic deity, possibly that of the more Asiatic peoples of Laconia,

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

and

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, prior to Hellenic colonization. The name "Apollo" across different regions of classical antiquity often referred to slightly different entities with varying attributes.

References

{{SmithDGRBM, title= Amazonius Epithets of Apollo *