Exploring the Sacred Landscape of the Ancient Peloponnese: Cults and Sacred Places

This book traces the origins of the religious system of the Peloponnese to identify the factors behind its subsequent development from the Geometric to the Classical period. Through a presentation of cult places, the deities worshipped, and the epithets used, the book explores preferences for particular deities and the reasons for this.

''It is clear that much work has been done, even simply by compiling this number of sites with varying types and extents of evidence and scholarship. It is an excellent guidebook to the areas included and should prove a useful and consultable volume for those interested in the religious life of the four study regions.'' – Shannon M. Dunn (2025): Bryn Mawr Classical Review

‘L’auteure y parvient en livrant une masse d’informations bien ordonnées, lesquelles servent, ... de synthèse à l’ensemble, visant à mieux saisir le rapport entre hommes et dieux dans l’île de Pélops.’ [translated] ‘The author achieves this by providing a well-organized body of information, … which serves as a synthesis for the whole, aiming to better understand the relationship between men and gods on the island of Pelops.’ – Jean-Robert Gisler (2025): Museum Helveticum Volume 82

Exploring the Sacred Landscape of the Ancient Peloponnese traces the origins of the religious system of the Peloponnese to identify the factors behind its subsequent development from the Geometric to the Classical period. Which deities found favour in the Peloponnese? What factors lay behind local religious manifestations? What were their special attributes? How were the Olympian gods adapted within the context of previous religious systems and deities?

Through a presentation of cult places, the deities worshipped, and the epithets used, the book explores preferences for particular deities and the reasons for this. The chthonian attributes of the deities are an important factor, and such attributes are further elucidated by the myths that accompany them.

Reconstructing the ancient religious landscape and the political, economic and social context sheds light on how the cult places played their role and demonstrates how the primitive chthonian character of some deities survived over the years. Religious and political needs were combined, and a network of sacred places with significant prestige, authority and power was the result.

• | Author: Eleni Marantou
• | Publisher: Archaeopress
• | Publication Date: May 16, 2024
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781803277714
• | ISBN-10: 1803277718