Alea (

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

: ) was an

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

of the Greek goddess

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

, prominent in Arcadian mythology, under which she was worshiped at Alea, Mantineia and Tegea. Alea was initially an independent goddess, but was eventually assimilated with Athena. A statue of Athena Alea existed on the road from

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

to Therapne. Her most important sanctuary was the famous Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea.

Alea (goddess)

Alea was a local deity in eastern Arcadia, who later became associated with, and an epithet of

as Athena Alea. Other known cults of Alea, alongside Athena, are also found in other nearby locations, such as Mantinea and in Sparta. Additionally, a small city-state in eastern Arcadia was also called Alea. Evidence from the Classical period points towards the use of Athena and Alea in conjunction with each other; for example, the fifth century historian

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

mentions the Temple of Alea Athena twice, whilst Tegean coins from the fourth century refer to Athena Alea instead. This provides support that the two goddesses were spoken about in conjunction. But, as McInerny highlights, this may be an oversimplification of a complex issue. Instead, he proposes to look towards the account of the second century CE geographer Pausanias who provides more details on the issue of the synchronization of the two goddesses. Pausanias provides two hints to the survival of the goddess Alea in his ''Description of Greece:'' first, when discussing Athena in the Peloponnese, he states that the local practice of calling her Alea has prevailed in Tegea; second, he mentions a local festival called the Aleaia, indicating a festival in the honour of Alea rather than Athena. Therefore, the synchronization between the two goddesses illustrates a process of unifying two important goddess whilst maintaining some local distinctions, rather than an Olympian goddess usurping a local deity.

Hera Alea

In addition to the synchronised Athena Alea, we have a literary record of a Hera Alea in the Ancient Greek city-state of

Sicyon Sicyon (; ; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyōn was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. The ruins lie just west of th ...

. This comes from a scholium to

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

' ''Nemean Ode'' 9,Scholia ad Pindar ''Nemean Ode'' 9.30a. providing further evidence of Alea's ability to spread to regions near Tegea.

Notes

Bibliography

* Head, Barclay. (1897) ''Historia numorum; a manual of Greek numismatics,'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, https://archive.org/details/cu31924029779141/page/380/mode/2up?q=Alea+Athena * Jost, Madeleine. (1985) ''Sanctuaires et cultes d’Arcadie.'' Paris: J. Vrin, https://cefael.efa.gr/detail.php?site_id=1&actionID=page&serie_id=EtPelop&volume_number=9&x=-1&y=7&ce=46gv12ot8i4qs874d9htgkeip1jech4v&sp=3 * Jost, Madeleine. (2003) "Arcadian Cults and Myths", in Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth. eds. ''Oxfords Classical Dictionary 3rd Edition,'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. * McInerney, Jeremey. (2013) "The Gods of (Con)Fusion: Athena Alea, Apollo Maleatas and Athena Aphaia", ''Classica et Mediavalia.'' 64. 49–80. https://www.academia.edu/9006607/The_Gods_of_Con_Fusion_Athena_Alea_Apollo_Maleatas_and_Athena_Aphaia

External links

Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea
at the Athena Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Alea Epithets of Athena Tegea Greco-Roman relations in classical antiquity