ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and Greek mythology, mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and Cult (religious practice), cult practices. The application of the modern concept ...

, Hegemone (, from the feminine form of ) was, according to the geographer Pausanias, the name given to one of the two

Charites In Greek mythology, the Charites (; ), singular Charis (), also called the Graces, are goddesses who personify beauty and grace. According to Hesiod, the Charites were Aglaia (Grace), Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia (Grace), Thalia, who were the ...

Athens 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 ...

(the other being Auxo). Hegemone, as the name of a Charis, can be understood to mean "she who leads" in the sense of "brings the plants forth from the earth". Hegemone, along with Auxo, and several other deities including

Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...

, and

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, was invoked as witness to the civic oath sworn by the ephebes of Athens. Hegemone was also an epithet of the goddesses Artemis and Aphrodite. As applied to Artemis, the name Hegemone is variously translated as "Leader", "Queen", or "Guide". Pausanias reports that Artemis Hegemone had a temple at Lycosura in Arcadia, and a sanctuary at

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 ...

. The third-century BC poet

Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...

seems to have applied the epithet to Artemis as the guide of the colonists who founded

Miletus Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...

. Inscriptions attest the presence of a cult of Aphrodite Hegemone, at Rhamnus.Lohmann
s.v. Rhamnus

Notes

References

, Musaeus, ''Aetia, Iambi, Hecale and Other Fragments, Hero and Leander'', edited and translated by C. A. Trypanis, T. Gelzer, Cedric H. Whitman,

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

No. 421, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 1973.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Celoria, Francis, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with a Commentary'', Routledge 1992.
Online version at ToposText
* Farnell, Lewis Richard, '' The Cults of the Greek States'' vol 2,

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Oxford, 1896
Internet Archive
* Farnell, Lewis Richard, '' The Cults of the Greek States'' vol 5,

Oxford, 1909
Internet Archive
* Habicht, Christian, ''Studien zur Geschichte Athens in hellenistischer Zeit'', Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982.
Internet Archive
* Hard, Robin (2004), ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004,
Google Books
* Heinze, Theodor
s.v. Horae
i
''Brill’s New Pauly Online''
Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006. * Hesychius of Alexandria, ''Hesychii Alexandrini lexicon'', Moritz Schmidt (ed.), Jenae, Sumptibus Hermanni Dufftii (Libraria Maukiana), 1867
Internet Archive
* Lafond, Yves
s.v. Lycosura
i
''Brill’s New Pauly Online''
Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006. * Liddell, Henry George, Robert Scott, ''

A Greek-English Lexicon A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'', revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie,

Oxford, 1940
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Lohmann, Hans
s.v. Rhamnus
i
''Brill’s New Pauly Online''
Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006. *

Lycurgus Lycurgus (; ) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, credited with the formation of its (), involving political, economic, and social reforms to produce a military-oriented Spartan society in accordance with the Delphic oracle. The Spartans i ...

, ''Against Leocrates'', in ''Minor Attic Orators, Volume II: Lycurgus. Dinarchus. Demades. Hyperides.'' Translated by J. O. Burtt.

No. 395. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1954.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pollux, ''Onomasticon'', vol. 2, Erich Bethe (ed.), Lepzig, Teubner, 1931
Internet Archive
* Schachter, Albert, s.vv
AresCharites
i
''Brill’s New Pauly Online''
Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006. * Smith, William, ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'', London (1873)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Greek mythology (deities), state=collapsed Greek goddesses Fertility goddesses Agricultural goddesses Nature goddesses