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The High Priestess supervised the city cult of Athena, enshrined in the Parthenon, and was the chief of the lesser officials such as the plyntrides, arrephoroi and kanephoroi. [2] Athena Polias ("Athena of the City") was one of the three divine patrons of the Acropolis of Athens, the other two being served by the High Priest of Poseidon ...
The Erechtheion [2] (/ ɪ ˈ r ɛ k θ i ə n /, latinized as Erechtheum / ɪ ˈ r ɛ k θ i ə m, ˌ ɛ r ɪ k ˈ θ iː ə m /; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο) or Temple of Athena Polias [3] is an ancient Greek Ionic temple on the north side of the Acropolis, Athens, which was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena.
Athena Ergane was the goddess of spinning and weaving, and so every year at the Chalkeia, on the day of the festival, the priestesses of Athena Polias and the young Arrephoroi would ritualistically set up a loom to make a sacred peplos to be offered to the goddess.
The cult image of the Poliás was a wooden effigy, often referred to as the "xóanon diipetés" (the "carving that fell from heaven"), made of olive wood and housed in the east-facing wing of the Erechtheum temple in the classical era. Considered not a man-made artefact but of divine provenance, it was the holiest image of the goddess and was ...
An Arrephoros (Ancient Greek: Ἀρρήφορος) was a girl acolyte in the cult of Athena Polias on the Athenian Acropolis.They were seven to eleven years old. According to Pausanias, [1] two Arrephoroi lived for a year on the Acropolis and concluded their term with a mystery rite called the Arrhephoria: they carried unknown objects into a cavern, and there exchanged them for other unknown ...
The cult of Athena Polias (the city's eponymous goddess) was central to Athenian society, reinforcing morality and maintaining societal structure. [66] Women played a key role in the cult; the priestesshood of Athena was a position of great importance, [ 120 ] and the priestess could use her influence to support political positions.
A small shrine has been excavated within the building, on the site of an older sanctuary probably dedicated to Athena as a way to get closer to the goddess, [30] but the Parthenon apparently never hosted the official cult of Athena Polias, patron of Athens. The cult image of Athena Polias, which was bathed in the sea and to which was presented ...
The cult of Athena Polias (the city's eponymous goddess) was central to Athenian society, reinforcing morality and maintaining societal structure. [8] Women played a key role in the cult; the priestesshood of Athena was a position of great importance, [ 20 ] and the priestess could use her influence to support political positions.