Olympian and Chthonic gods: Is Artemis a chthonic
deity?
Are the ways in which we define the ancient Greek gods clear? Can we notice traits that pose problem when differentiating between Olympian deities as opposed to the chthonian deities? These are questions that this blog post will look to address. Distinguishing a proper definition between Olympian and chthonian gods is a noticeably unfinished debate. Scott Scullion’s article ‘Olympian and Chthonian’ will be the primary scholarly reflection of my own ideas as I agree with much of what he says. However, I will also seek to show where my opinion on the dividing line between Olympian and chthonian rests.
Artemis and Apollo, Tondo of an Attic red-figure cup (470BC) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_Artemis_Brygos_Louvre_G151.jpg
Hades and Persephone, Tondo of an Attic red-figured kylix
Of
ancient Greek art, we notice little differentiation between the customs of
Apollo and Artemis (top) and Persephone and Hades (bottom). Only in their
appearance and familiar traits do we even know of who they are, little as to
their nature of Olympian or chthonic is shown. Material objects and artistic
representation, in fact, representation in general , has little way of
communicating the difference between what we know as the Olympian gods and the
chthonic gods. We can take this as being reflective of Greek thought that art
was not necessarily inclined to perform such a role.
Perhaps
then, as a way of appeasing the argument in a less general scope, it is better
to consider where Artemis rests with regards to this matter of Olympian and
chthonic gods rather than trying to place her within the confines of modern
polytheistic study as attempted earlier. Similarly, it may be beneficial to
attempt to place Artemis on the scale of the Olympian and chthonic binary based
on parallels in role to what are typically chthonic deities. Of course, we already know of Artemis that she
held place within the typical Olympian pantheon of gods. She was the goddess of the wilderness, as alluded to already; she also had a role to play in the conservation of the lands and also within the protection of women and childbirth. To use a term from ‘Artemis; Goddess of conservation’, ‘Artemis personified the wilderness. She loved forests and mountains and gave protection to defined areas of sacred space that functioned as wild areas and wildlife sanctuaries. Third, Artemis stood for ethical principles in hunting and land management.[1] This crucial aspect of land management as being one of Artemis’ roles happens to appeal within oneself to seek out how this differs (if, at all) to the roles that Demeter and Persephone had. Persephone had a role as the goddess of spring growth and Demeter had the role of crop harvest.
An extract from Scott Scullion (1994) ‘Olympian and Chthonian’ p.77
‘THE TRADITIONAL DISTINCTION QUESTIONED
Arthur Fairbanks commenced the modern debate in
1900, complaining that his contemporaries tended "to include the worship
of the dead, of chthonic gods proper, and of heroes, together with all
propitiatory and purificatory rites, under one heading, and to apply the term
'chthonic' to this whole group of divinities and to this entire type of
worship." In Paul Stengel's work, for example, this approach has "the
result that Apollo, Artemis, and indeed most of the Olympic divinities, come to
be classed as at times chthonic gods.”’[2]
This
whole section of Scullion’s study considers Arthur Fairbanks’ work mentioned in
the passage above. It clearly highlights of Artemis’ potential link with
chthonic gods. We can discuss the problems of Artemis and her overlap with chthonic
elements now in classical literature.
Herodotus’
Histories mentions Artemis; 2.156. In
this passage it highlights how in Egypt Demeter is in fact Isis and Apollo and
Artemis are the children of Demeter. This is obviously in an Egyptian context
but Herodotus himself is Greek yet, felt inclined to assert the notion of how
Artemis and Demeter can be linked with regards to myth. Further to this 4.33 of the same work
highlights where Thracian and Paeonian women sacrifice to Artemis. They do so
using wheat straw which is fundamentally Demeter’s sphere of activity with
regards to crop harvest but yet again we know of the overlap of roles as
Artemis is goddess of land management.
Persephone
had a role in Locrian cult and myth similar to that of Artemis. ‘Her wedding
had an important place in Locrian cult and myth and she was worshipped also as
the protector of marriage and the women’s sphere, including the protection of
children.'[3]
Yet we know of Artemis from an earlier posting that she was involved just as
importantly in her cultural sphere not just with the protection of women in
childbirth but also of the protection of young women into womanhood.
It is
such prominent similarities within these two goddesses, Persephone and Artemis,
in multiple different sources both classical and scholarly, that lead me to
believing in the difficulty of posing Olympian and chthonic gods as binary
opposites. How can there be such binaries when the roles of Artemis and the
roles of Demeter and Persephone so heavily overlap?
[1]Hughes
J D (1990) ‘Artemis: Goddess of Conservation’, Forest & Conservation
History 34.4. Forest History Society p.196
[2]
Scullion S (1994) ‘Olympian and Chthonian’, Classical
Antiquity 13.1. University of California Press. P. 77
[3] Hornblower S & Spawforth A, (eds.), (2004) The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilisation. Oxford University Press P.528.
[3] Hornblower S & Spawforth A, (eds.), (2004) The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilisation. Oxford University Press P.528.
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