SANCTUARY%20OF%20ZEUS%20POLIEUS

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SANCTUARY OF ZEUS POLIEUS

• Zeus Of the City

Humanities 302 Golden Age of Greece
By Sarah Billy
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Ancient Acropolis
Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus
Source http//plato-dialogues.org/tools/acropol.h
tm
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Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus

• The Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus was built around
  500 B.C, and was dedicated to Zeus as protector
  of the polis hence the name. It was located
  east of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis in
  Athens, and is thought to have consisted of two
  main parts (1) an open-air precinct on the west
  which contained an altar, and (2) a more
  polygonal precinct to the northeast.

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The southwest corner (3) of the west area was
probably a barn like building to contain the
sacred oxen dedicated to Zeus.

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Source http//www.ancient-greece.org/images/maps/
plans/acropolis-plan.swf
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Reconstruction
Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus

• http//www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/Parthenon/Parth
  enon1.jpg

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Modern Acropolis
Remains of Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus
Source http//www.artlex.com/ArtLex/a/images/acro
polis_aerial.lg.jpg
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Whats left of it

• Unfortunately, the Sanctuary no longer
  exists except for parts of its foundation.

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Buphonia (ox-slaying)
The buphonia was an ancient sacrificial ceremony
performed during the midsummer festival of
Dipolieia for Zeus. During the ceremony, oxen
were brought to the Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus,
along with a procession of priests and young
girls carrying water for sharpening the axe and
sacrificial knife. The oxen were led to the
altar, where a sacrificial meal to Zeus was
previously placed. The first ox to eat from the
meal would then be sacrificed in place of the
meal.
ox
After slaying the ox, the murderer would then
flee the scene of the crime, leaving behind the
murder weapon.
Source http//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm
ons/thumb/b/b6/Holy_cow!.jpg/250px-Holy_cow!.jpg
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The Bizarre Trial

• After the slaying, a trial was held in a special
  court in Athens. Since the ox-slayer himself had
  fled, the girls who brought the water for
  sharpening the knife and axe were charged with
  the 'murder.' They then accused those who
  actually sharpened the axe and knife, who then
  accused the man who gave them the axe and knife,
  who in turn accused the butcher. The butcher
  then said the axe and knife themselves were most
  responsible, and since they could not defend
  themselves they were found guilty and thrown into
  the sea! Furthermore, back at the Sanctuary the
  skin of the ox was stuffed and harnessed to a
  plow at an attempt to restore it.
• This bizarre trial is a way of absolving the
  whole community of the guilt of killing a
  domestic animal, and the attempted restoration
  expresses this guilt and regret.

Minoan bronze double-axe
http//pagesperso-orange.fr/miltiade/double-hache-
cretoise.jpg
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Origin of the Buphonia
One source is Pausanias (2nd century A.D) who
claims that the ritual began during the kingship
of Erectheus, when sacrifices to Zeus Polieus
were usually vegetable products. During one
sacrifice, however, an ox wandered up to Zeus'
altar and ate a sacrificial meal by accident,
causing a man named Thaulon to kill the ox in
anger. He fled the city in shame, leaving the
axe behind. The Athenians then received an
oracle instructing them to repeat this sacrifice
every year. Another source is in a work by
Porphyry (3rd century A.D) which advocates
vegetarianism. In this work, it is claimed that
the buphonia was initiated when during the
festival of Zeus, an ox came and tasted the
sacrificial meal in honeyed oil, and then had to
be sacrificed by the priest Diomos and his
helpers.
By the fifth century, the Athenians found the
ritual primitive and bizarre, yet they continued
to practice it well into the second century B.C !
Even though the ritual was little understood and
probably only attended by members of the Cult of
Zeus, the fact that it was part of the
celebration of the Dipolieia indicates its
significance.
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Thucydides History
Cylon went to Delphi to consult the god, and the
reply he received was that he was to seize the
Acropolis of Athens during the great festival of
Zeus ... In fact, the Athenians have a festival,
the Diasia, which is called the great festival of
Zeus the Gracious. This takes place outside the
city, and the whole people make a number of
sacrifices not including blood sacrifices, but
traditional offerings of the country.
- Thucydides, I. 126
What about the festival of Dipolieia?
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Aristophanes Clouds
How thoroughly quaint! How redolent of cicada
brooches, oxslaughter trials and Cedeides!
- Aristophanes Clouds, line 985
By the time of Aristophanes, the buphonia and
Dipolieia were considered an old antiquated
custom. This is seen here, when the young man
WRONG makes fun of the older RIGHT man, by
relating his life to three out of date things.