Cynosarges ( ''Kynosarges'') was a famous temple of

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

, public gymnasium, and surrounding grove located just outside the walls of

Ancient Athens Athens is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of ancient Greece in t ...

on the southern bank of the

Ilissos The Ilisos or Ilisus (, ) is a river in Athens, Greece. Originally a tributary of the Cephissus (Athenian plain), Kifisos, it has been rechanneled to the sea. It is now largely channeled underground, though as of June 2019 there were plans to un ...

river and near the Diomeian gate. The modern suburb of Kynosargous is named after it.

Overview

Its exact location is unknown but it is generally located in what is now the southern suburbs of

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 Stones of Athens'', Wycherley, R.E., Princeton 1978.Pg 229 Its name was a mystery to the ancients that was explained by a story about a white or swift dog, etymologising the name as ''Kynos argos'', from

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

of ''kyon'' (dog) and ''argos'' (white, shining, or swift). The legend goes that on one occasion when Didymos, an Athenian, was performing a lavish sacrifice, a white (or swift) dog appeared and snatched the offering; Didymos was alarmed, but received an oracular message saying that he should establish a temple to

in the place where the dog dropped the offering.

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 a shrine there in 490/89 BC, and it became a famous sanctuary of Heracles that was also associated with his mother

Alcmene In Greek mythology, Alcmene ( ; ) or Alcmena ( ; ; ; meaning "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon, by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known as the mother of Heracles, whose father was the god Zeus. Alcmene ...

, his wife Hebe and his nephew/helper Iolaus. It appeared that Heracles and Hebe each had a dedicated altar whereas Alcmene and Iolaus shared one. A renowned gymnasium was built there; it was meant especially for ''nothoi'', illegitimate children. The Cynosarges was also where the Cynic Antisthenes was said to have lectured, a fact which was offered as one explanation as to how the sect got the name of Cynics. A festival was held at Cynosarges in honour of Heracles in the month of Metageitnion, at which twelve ''nothoi'' were chosen to be ''parasitoi'' (fellow diners), who ate a meal with the cult statue of the god. They returned for smaller meals each month for a year where a priest would perform sacrifices. People who refused to serve as ''parasitoi'' were liable to be prosecuted in the Athenian court system. Clement recorded that

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

, who claimed Heracles as an ancestor, was honoured with a cult at the site.

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

writes that since Herakles was reputed to be a bastard, for that reason the bastards, those qualifying as citizens neither paternally nor maternally, used to exercise there.Suda, kappa, 2721
/ref> Archaeological excavations were carried out in 1896-7 by Cecil Smith, the Director of the

British School at Athens The British School at Athens (BSA; ) is an institute for advanced research, one of the eight British International Research Institutes supported by the British Academy, that promotes the study of Greece in all its aspects. Under UK law it is a reg ...

and BSA student Robert Carr Bosanquet.

Notes

References

* Athenaeus of Naucratis, ''

The Deipnosophists The ''Deipnosophistae'' (, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. , where ''sophists'' may be translated more loosely as ) is a work written in Ancient Greek by Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of Greek literature, literary, Ancient history, h ...

or Banquet of the Learned.'' London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Athenaeus of Naucratis, ''Deipnosophistae''. Kaibel. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1887
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, '' The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library
* 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, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Suida The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

, ''Suda Encyclopedia'' translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others
Online version at the Topos Text Project.

External links

*{{cite IEP , url-id=cynosarg , title=Cynosarges Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Athens Ancient Greek religion Cynicism Former buildings and structures in Greece Heracles Gymnasiums (ancient Greece) Festivals in ancient Athens

Overview

See also

Notes

References

External links