Assesia () was a cultic

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 ...

for the 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 ...

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, derived from the town of

Assesos Assesos or Assesus () was a small ancient Greek town in the region of Caria in Asia Minor, in the territory of Miletus, and the site of a sanctuary of Athena Assesia (). It is mentioned by Herodotus in his '' Histories'' (I.18–23) in the context ...

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

, where she had a temple. The 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 ...

relates several anecdotes about this aspect of the goddess, as having a temple at Assesos that was accidentally burned down by the forces of the 7th century BCE Mermnad king Alyattes I, while his forces were waging war against the Milesians, and burning all their grain. After falling ill, the king consulted the

Pythia Pythia (; ) was the title of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as th ...

, who told him no answer would be forthcoming until the temple was rebuilt, which Alyattes did, ultimately building two temples to Athena Assesia. The ruin of one of these temples still exists today, and is a significant source of south

n pottery for modern scholars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assesia, Athena Epithets of Athena