Aphaia (, ''Aphaía'') was a Greek goddess who was worshipped almost exclusively at a single sanctuary on the island of

Aegina Aegina (; ; ) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the mythological hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. ...

in the

Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf ( Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of C ...

Cult and worship

She originated as early as the 14th century BCE as a local deity associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle. Under the later Athenian

hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of ...

she came to be identified with the goddesses

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 ...

and

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 ...

and with the nymph

Britomartis Britomartis (;) was a Greek goddess of mountains, nets, and hunting who was primarily worshipped on the island of Crete. She was sometimes described as a nymph, but she was more commonly conflated or syncretized with the goddesses Artemis, Athena ...

as well, by the 2nd century CE, the time of Pausanias:

On ''Aegina'' as one goes toward the mountain of Zeus, god of all the Hellenes, the sanctuary of ''Aphaia'' comes up, for whom
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 ...
composed an ode at the behest of the Aeginetans. The Cretans say (the myths about her are native to Crete) that Euboulos was the son of Kharmanor, who purified
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 ...
of the killing of the Python, and they say that Britomartis was the daughter of Zeus and Kharme (the daughter of this Euboulos). She enjoyed races and hunts and was particularly dear to Artemis. While fleeing from
Minos Main injector neutrino oscillation search (MINOS) was a particle physics experiment designed to study the phenomena of neutrino oscillations, first discovered by a Super-Kamiokande (Super-K) experiment in 1998. Neutrinos produced by the NuMI ...
, who lusted after her, she cast herself into nets cast for a catch of fish.
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 ...
made her a goddess, and not only the Cretans but also the Aeginetans revere her. The Aeginetans say that Britomartis showed herself to them on their island. Her epithet among the Aeginetans is ''Aphaia'', and it is ''Diktynna of the Nets'' on Crete.
Description of Greece ''Description of Greece'' () is the only surviving work by the ancient "geographer" or tourist Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias (c. 110 – c. 180). Pausanias' ''Description of Greece'' comprises ten books, each of them dedicated to some ...
2.30.3

The remains of the Late Archaic period Temple of Aphaia are located within a sanctuary complex on a 160 meter peak at the northeastern end of the island: 37°45'14.82"N, 23°32'0.24"E. The extant temple was built at around 500 BCE on the site of an earlier temple that had burned around 510 BCE. An inscribed potsherd of the 5th century BCE found in the precinct of the Temple of

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 ...

at Bassae in Arcadia is inscribed with what may be a dedication to Aphaia. If so, it would be the first known inscribed dedication to this goddess outside Aegina.Cooper accepts the identification with Aphaia, although the inscription simply reads ΑΦΑΙ, and he draws out certain parallels between the two sanctuaries.

Notes

References

*Bankel, Hansgeorg. 1993. ''Der spätarchaische Tempel der Aphaia auf Aegina. Denkmäler antiker Architektur 19''. Berlin; New York: W. de Gruyter. * Cartledge, Paul, Ed. 2002. ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece'', Cambridge University Press, p. 273. *Cook, R. M. 1974. "The Dating of the Aegina Pediments." ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 94 pp. 171. *Cooper, Frederick A. 1996. ''The Temple of Apollo Bassitas: The architecture''. Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens
pp. 63-64
*Diebold, William J. 1995. "The Politics of Derestoration: The Aegina Pediments and the German Confrontation with the Past" ''Art Journal'', 54.2 pp. 60–66. * Furtwängler, Adolf, Ernst R. Fiechter and Hermann Thiersch. 1906. ''Aegina, das Heiligthum der Aphaia''. Munich: Verlag der K. B. Akademie der wissenschaften in Kommission des G. Franz’schen Verlags (J. Roth). *Furtwängler, Adolf. 1906. ''Die Aegineten der Glyptothek König Ludwigs I, nach den Resultaten der neuen Bayerischen Ausgrabung''. Munich: Glyptothek: in Kommission bei A. Buchholz. *Glancey, Jonathan. 2006. ''Architecture'', Doring Kindersley, Ltd., p. 96. *Invernizzi, Antonio. 1965. ''I frontoni del Tempio di Aphaia ad Egina''. Turin: Giappichelli. *Ohly, Dieter. 1977. ''Tempel und Heiligtum der Aphaia auf Ägina''. Munich: Beck. *Pilafidis-Williams, Korinna. 1987. ''The Sanctuary of Aphaia on Aigina in the Bronze Age.'' Munich: Hirmer Verlag. *Schildt, Arthur. 1895. ''Die Giebelgruppen von Aegina''. Leipzig : . Meyer *Schwandner, Ernst-Ludwig. 1985. ''Der ältere Porostempel der Aphaia auf Aegina''. Berlin: W. de Gruyter. *Webster, T. B. L. 1931. "The Temple of ''Aphaia'' at Aegina." ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 51.2 pp. 179–183.

External links

Pedimental SculptureTemple of Aphaia Photographs(Hellenic Ministry of Culture) Archaeological site of Aphaia on Aigina
*
Perseus website: "Aegina, Temple of Aphaia"
Extensive photo repertory.

{{Authority control Greek goddesses Agricultural goddesses Fertility goddesses Aeginetan mythology Epithets of Artemis