S. CONSTANTINIDOU
TH E IMPORTANCE OF BRONZE IN EA R LY G REEK RELIGION*
To the memory of Jam es
Hesiod’s Bronze
Hooker
Race
Ζευς δέ πατήρ τρίτον άλ?,ο γένος μερόπων ανθρώπων
χάλκεων π ο ί η σ ο ν κ άργυρέω ονδέν δμοΐον,
εκ μελιάν, δεινόν τε και δβριμον, οϊσιν *Αρηος
έργ3 εμελε στονόεντα καί νβριες* ...
των ό9 ήν χάλκεα μέν τευγεα, χάλκεοι δέ τε οϊκοι,
χαλκω δ9 ειργάζοντο' ...
T h e n Zeus the father made yet a third race of men, of bronze,
not like the silver in anything. Out of ash-trees he m ade them , a te r ­
rible and fierce race, occupied with the woeful works of Ares and
with acts of violence, ... They had bronze arm our, bronze houses,
and w ith bronze they laboured ...’ (Hes. Op. 143 ff.; 150 f.)1.
In Hesiod’s famous m yth of Ages, whose structure and in terp re­
tation have been a m atter of long and controversial discussions, a
place was given to bronze; one of the races is nam ed after this m etal
and represents a certain stage in the process of hum an 'developm ent 9
which, however, has also a negative aspect th a t corresponds to a n a t­
ural and cultural degeneration (with an emphasis on the moral level )2.
—
%
* I am deeply indebted to J.T. Hooker for reading this article and for his
written comments and criticisms sent to me a few days before his death; I dedi­
cate it to his memory with much gratitude. My thanks are also due to Professor
Pat Easterling for offering very helpful suggestions and comments and to Mr
Gareth Owens for contributing to its improvement.
1 . For the Greek text I have used the edition of M.L. West, Hesiod, W orks
and Days, Oxford 1978, while the translation is quoted also from M.L. West’s,
Hesiod, Theogony and W orks and Days.
Notes, Oxford 1988, 41.
Translated w ith an Introduction and
2.
The ‘degenerative interpretation’, as it is called, is put forward by many
scholars who see in Hesiod’s myth of the successive ages a progressive decline of
138
S. Constantinidou
This work, however, is not intended to deal w ith the above m yth’s
meaning and interpretation as a whole. This has been done excellent­
ly by various scholars, for m any years, who have treated the prob­
lems raised by the fascinating tale of how men m ay lose a better
life (passing through various stages of living)1. Nevertheless, the m yth
of Ages w ith the m ention of the bronze race seems a perfect starting
point for studying the mythological association of bronze —an asso­
ciation which seems to belong to a tradition even earlier th an Hesiod
himself2— and the importance of this m etal in early Greek religion.
In the TVorfo and Days the bronze race was created by Zeus:
Ζεδς δέ πατήρ τρίτον &λ?.ο γένος μερόπων άνθρώπων / χά?*κειον ποίησ9
(νν. 143-4; cf. ν. 158). Hesiod’s additional reference to the origin
of the same race, έκ μελιάν (ν. 145), makes things more complicated.
human life (and culture) and the ‘passage from an original paradise-state* (West,
W D , 172) to a state of misery and hard work. Other scholars accept that these ra­
ces are successive in time as well (thus historicizing Hesiod’s myth of Ages) and
try to associate them with successive historical periods with, however, an inter­
ruption of the non-metallic heroic race, which may be an interpolation to the
original non-Greek myth on which Hesiod based his own so as to adapt it to the
Greek tradition. And the ‘non degenerative interpretation*, that which sees the
successive ages in a synchronic as well as a diachronic dimension, not a decline of
any sort but a different state of existence; according to this interpretation the
succession of the one race by the other should not be seen as a sequence of inferior­
ity for in some respects a successive genos could be superior to the preceding one
(cf. the silver and bronze races). According to this interpretation, Hesiod’s races
represent various (different) sorts of men,good and bad, violent or not, warlike or
peaceful, diligent or lazy, fraudulent and deceitful or just, miserable or happy. It
is in this sense that the didactic function of the poem is accomplished as there is
still hope for Hesiod’s contemporaries to live in a paradise, like the golden people,
or in misery, like the iron people: for the various interpretations of the above myth
see M.L. West, H esiod, W orks and Days, Oxford 1978, 172-7; J.-P. Vernant, ‘Le
my the hdsiodique des races* in M y the et pensee chez les Grecs, Paris 1965, 19-47;
J. Fontenrose, 'Work, Justice, and Hesiod's five ages’, Classical Philology 69.1
(1974), 1-16. See also G.W. Querbach, ‘Hesiod myth of the Four races’, The Clas­
sical Journal 81.1 (1985), 1-12, esp. 5 f. For the view that ‘Hesiod's classification
is not technological or even cultural, it is based on an hierarchy of the value of
metals and a theory of degeneration' see J. Pinsent, 'History, Myth and Epic: a
Study on Genres’ in ίλιάδα και Οδύσσεια. Μύθος και ιστορία. Από τα Πρακτικά του Δ'
Συνεδρίου για την Οδύσσεια (9-15 Σετττ. 1984), Ithaca 1986, 38-9.
1. See previous note. However, there is no agreement among them on the num­
ber of the myth’s races; are they five, four or even six? Nevertheless, work, hybris, and ju stice (d ikd ) are the main themes associated with this myth: cf. Fon­
tenrose and Querbach, arts c it
2. For oriental parallels and the possible origin of this myth see West, W D ,
174-7; Fontenrose, art. cit., 2-5.
i
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
139
For, two interpretations are p u t forward: either they are born from
Meliai, the nymphs of ash-trees or from the ash-trees themselves. I t
seems th a t both interpretations are in fact com patible because to be
born from ash-trees could also mean originating from or related to
the divine beings who dwell in these trees, even more so as th e Meliai
nymphai are mentioned in the Theogony (187 J1. However, within
the context of the description of the bronze race, έκ μελιάν is rath er
used as a distinctive feature of this race’s nature and more specifical­
ly of its hardness and cruelty. They are hard like the wood of ashtrees th a t was usually used for m aking spears and other weapons (cf.
Od. 22. 259: άλλου ό’ εν τοίχω μελίη πέσε χαλκοβάοεια). Besides, it is
for the same race th a t Hesiod says: *... a terrible and fierce race, oc­
cupied with the woeful works of Ares and w ith acts of violence ..·
They had bronze arm our ...’ (Op. 145 ff.).
W hether or not we accept the bronze race’s origin from Meliai
nymphs The fact th a t th e Meliai of Th. 187 are related to th e E riny­
es and the Giants (Th. 185) ... implies th a t they have a fierce char­
acter, which corresponds w ith the bellicose natu re of th e bronze
race’12. A^iolence and warlike acts are then th e main characteristics of
the bronze race; they tended to the works or *deeds’ of Ares ('Άρηος έργα) and to νβριες (acts of violence). Although not inferior, the
bronze men were quite different from the silver ones (ονκ άργνρέω
ούδέν όμοϊον) and they ate no bread, which means th a t th ey were not
involved in cultivation and agriculture which are regarded as basic
features of civilization3. W ar was their main occupation and th ey
1. For either the one or the other interpretation see West, W D , on 145-6; cf.
idem , Hesiod, Theogony, on 187; G.J. Rowe, Essential H esiod, Bristol 1978, 125;
W.J. Verdenius, A C om m entary on Hesiod W orks and D ays, vv. 1-382, M nem o­
syne Suppl. 86 (Leiden 1985), on 145. See also T.A. Sinclair, H esiod W orks and
Days, London 1932, p. 20, who argues that a ‘divine origin is quite inappropria­
te’ and that εκ μελιάν in Op. 145 'has nothing to do with Theog. 187, where Ν ύμφαι μελίαι are simply nymphs of ash-trees’.
2. Verdenius, op. cit. See also J.-P. Vernant, M y th and Thought am ong the
Greeks (Engl, transl. of M ythe et pensee chez les Grecs ), London 1983, 13: ‘It
is easy to understand why Hesiod said that the race of bronze came from the ashtrees, έκ μελιάν. The meliai, the nymphs of the trees of war, which themselves
reach up to the sky like lances, are constantly associated in myth with the
supernatural beings that represent the warrior’.
3. There exist various theories over the food of these first men ranging from
cannibalism and vegetarianism or even a combination of meat (not necessarily
always human) and wild vegetation: see West, W D , 188. Verdenius, op. cit., on
146 and 147 takes ουδέ τι σίτον ησΟιον as a symbol of the bronze race’s ‘uncivilized
nature’.
140
S. Constantinidou
only had to do w ith bronze as μέλας δ* ούκ £σκε σίδηρος ('as there was
no dark iron’). B ut this genos too were destroyed by their own deeds
and descended to Hades* cold house, nameless (νώννμνοι). Such was
not th e fate of th e next race, the heroic, which follows the bronze in
Hesiod’s classification. They w ent to the Isles of th e Blest where they
live in paradisal conditions comparable to those of the golden race1.
Our discussion will be focussing, however, on this fourth, heroic
race’s features th a t do, indeed, associate them w ith the preceding one
in Hesiod’s story and give another very plausible reason for its 'in ­
terpolation in Hesiod’s scheme, in th e sense both th a t it breaks the
sequence of the m etals, and th a t it interrupts the general decline
m arked by th a t sequence’12; b u t it is not the 'contrast’ between the
two races rath er th a t provides a good reason for fitting the heroes
after the bronze men as C.J. Rowe3 has argued, b u t chiefly both races’
special connection w ith war. They, too, were warriors; and they were
famous warriors since they fought in Thebes and Troy. However, their
dealing w ith the acts of war was n ot similar to th a t of the previous
race b u t was characterized by heroic qualities similar to those of the
Homeric heroic behaviour. The heroic race came to an end not be­
cause of their own νβρις, as the bronze did, b u t after fighting for just
reasons4.
Thus Hesiod’s bronze and heroic races are defined in relation to
each other as they belong to th e same sphere of action, th a t of War.
However, though a pair, there are differences between them on the
moral level. Each one represents different aspects of m ilitary power:
the bronze men act w ith physical violence and cruelty, like other
mythological and supernatural figures as the giants (such elements
are obviously seen in Hesiod’s description of this race in vv. 147-9: ...
άλλ* άδάμαντος Ιχον κρατερόφρονα θυμόν / άπλαστοι* μεγάλη δε βίη
καί χεϊρες άαπτοι / έξ ώμων έπέφνκον έπί στιβαροΐσι μέλεσσιν), they are
com m itted to hybris. The heroes embody a different m ilitary power;
1. See Op. 170-3; cf. 117-8.
2. Rowe, op. cit., on 154-5. For other reasons for the heroic race’s interrup­
tion of the sequenco of Hesiod’s myth of ages see Verdenius, op. cit., on 158. On
the historical meaning of the myth, the races representing historical world-peri­
ods, see Fontenrose, art. cit., esp. 9, who believes that the bronze and the heroic
races *wero really two representations of a single period', of tho late Bronze Age.
3. Seo as note above. It is obvious, according to Hesiod that the heroic race
are hotter in many respects: for-they aro ’superior* (δρειον) and ’more orderly’ (δι­
καιότεροι*), descendants of gods (θεών γένος; cf. ήμίΟεοι).
4. See Rowe and Verdenius, o p . c it., on 161-5.
The im portance of bronze in early Greek religion
141
though warriors, their acts have to do w ith superior orders like dike
and sdphrosyne1. Nevertheless, on the functional level both belong
to the sphere of W ar, the bronze men are w arriors as well as the he­
roes (both were also created by Zeus: Op. 143, 157): both belong to
the world of weapons, to the world of bronze. A n d this is perhaps
another possible explanation why the fourth race is the only race in
Hesiod’s My t h of Ages that is not named after a metal.
The evidence of the Linear B texts
From the mythological let us now tu rn to other aspects of th e
religious im portance of bronze. The use of bronze m arks a whole pe­
riod, the Bronze Age, thus known for the predominance of this m etal
for making weapons and objects of everyday use. Therefore, one
would naturally expect this m etal’s mention in the Bronze Age w rit­
ten documents. In fact, the bronze-tablets are of th e m ost im p o rtan t
among the Linear B texts; an im portance th a t obviously such a cate­
gory deserves among the documents of the above epoch12. Thus th e
interpretation of the Mycenaean words kako and kakeu as χαλκός
and χαλκεύς is beyond any dispute. Similarly, ka-ke-w e represents
the plural num ber of an occupational term and comprises one of th e
most im portant occupational categories in the Mycenaean archives.
In Pylos, kakewe are recorded in the Jn, Ma and Na series. In th e J n
series they are recorded w ith designations which allow us to classify
them into five categories3. One is th a t of potinijaw ejo (see P Y Jn 310
1. Vernant, op.cit., 16-7, 45 f. See also G.W. Querbach, art. cit., for the best
discussion, in my opinion, of the clear contrast that Hesiod’s 'myth does suggest
... a contrast between communities of men who deal with each other through dike
and communities in which hybris is rife’ (ibid., 5-6).
2. For the definition, the concept and chronology of the Bronze Age see J.T.
Hooker, Mycenaean Greece, London 1976, 2-6. For the various uses of bronze in
the Linear B texts see J. Chadwick, The Mycenaean W orld, Cambridge 1976, 13943. For the word χαλκός, used in Greek both of copper and of bronze, I am using
the translation ‘bronze’ (which in fact is an alloy of copper and tin), except in
some cases in the Cyprus section when copper refers to the unmixed metal.
3. These are thoroughly discussed in M. Lindgren’s excellent 'Prosopographical Catalogue of Individuals and Groups* entitled The People o f Pylos, Uppsa­
la 1973, Part I, 61-70. According to her classification these five categories of ka­
kewe in the Jn series are the following: 1) tarasija ekote jekosi 2) atarasijo 3) p o ­
tinijawejo 4) aketere (a kete) 5) paraketeewe (paraketeeu). However, the kake­
we potinijaw ejo may also be recorded as tarasija ekote or atarasijo, an additional
designation that belongs to the first two categories and refers to an occasional oc­
cupational status of a certain smith, his activity or inactivity, i.e. whether he has
or he is given tarasija (probably an amount of bronze), or not.
142
S. C onstantinidou
and 431), associated w ith the goddess P otinija and the place-names
Akerew a and Apekee, probably tw o other local cult-centres of the
above goddess adjacent to her main cult place, Pakijana.
In 1963, in a letter addressed to the Editor of Nestor John
Chadwick emphasized the im portance of the Mycenaean documents
in Linear B for 'a very ancient association between metal-working
and religion’1. In the Pylos Jn bronze-tablets groups of smiths are
called po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo, 'those who belong to Potnia’, which points
to their cultic association w ith th e above divine personality and sug­
gests the existence in Mycenaean tim es of bronze workshops associated
w ith religion12. A similar association is shown by evidence from Cyprus
th a t will be presented below.
Thus the po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo ka-ke-w e: ΠοτνιαΡεϊοι χαλκήΡες in
the Jn series, are the bronze-sm iths of Potnia who is possibly the di­
vine Mistress of the Pylian State. Their mention provides further
evidence for th e im portant r0le of sanctuaries in the Mycenaean eco­
nom y3; a role which is not confined to bronze-working b u t also to
1. N estor l.v., p. 251 (Correspondence).
2. A similar case may be the cave of Arkalokhori which Sp. Marinatos sug­
gested that ‘was the workshop of a religious guild of bronze-smiths’. Their patron
there, was the Minoan goddess who appears in many aspects in Crete and is be­
lieved to be the predecessor of the Greek goddess Potnia Theron: see John Fer­
guson, A m ong the Gods: A n archaeological exploration o f ancient Greek religion,
London and New York 1989, 1; cf. J. Chadwick, The Mycenaean World, 93 f.
Evidence for metal-working comes also from the Menelaion Mycenaean site — the
cult-place of Helen and Menelaos on the east bank of Eurotas and opposite Sparta,
at the site of ancient Therapne— though it seems that this had to do with the
construction of the building there rather than with the cult at the neighbouring
shrine: see Hector Catling, L akonikai Spoudai 3 (1977), 263. An indication of the
association of bronze-smiths or bronze-smiths* workshops with the cult of Athena
Chalkioikos is the inscription read on a large plaque found on the Acropolis of
Sparta; it bears the word Χαλκεία, which can be interpreted as ‘workshops of
bronze* or ‘bronze-objects*. The first meaning, however, seems more plausible.
This plaque might also have been used to specify the place in the temple where
bronze dedications were deposited, probably a wooden platform or an altar similar
to the Chalkotheke on the Acropolis of Athens which served as a depository of
bronze objects; see T.A. Boring, Literacy in A ncient Sparta, M nem osyne Suppl. 54
(Leiden 1979), 107 n. 86.
3. However, for a different view see J.T. Hooker (Linear B. A n Introduction,
Bristol 1980, 114), who does not see in tho Jn bronze-tablets any connection of the
bronze-smiths with cult or any sacral function; cf. idem, ‘Titles and functions in
the Pylian Stato*v in Studies in Mycenaean and Classical Greek presented to John
Chadwick, Minos 20-22 (Salamaifca 1987), 260. For po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo smiths see
also M.G.F. Ventris and J. Chadwick, D ocuments in Mycenaean Greek, Cambridge
The im portance of bronze in early G reek religion
143
other economic sectors such as th a t of textiles etc. L .R . Palm er1 sug­
gested th a t, on the basis of the evidence of the tablets, a distinction
between 'th e royal branch and the divine branch of the economy*
can be made. This distinction, however, which is rath er artificial
than a reality in the Mycenaean economy, seems to be of secondary
importance from our point of view because the Linear B tablets
are the official documents of th e Mycenaean palatial centres and
thus it seems more plausible th a t they were concerned w ith th e offi­
cial, state-religion*12. Consequently the economic role of sanctuaries
was not so much independent from th a t of th e Mycenaean palace it­
self3. In support of this view I consider some other evidence quite im­
portant: one of the m ost im portant Mycenaean records of religious
offerings is PY Tn 316; there, a list of offerings, thirteen gold ves19732, 354, 509. For Potnia see mainly J. Chadwick, 'Potnia’, Minos 5 (1957),
117-29. A κακευ(ζ) associated with a goddess, τάς Γανά(σσας), is found on an
inscription from Cyprus (for which see S. Luria, 'Kypro-mykenisches kakeu ( χαλκεύς)', Kadmos 2:1 (1963), 71), which I regard as a very important additional
evidence for the association of bronzeworking and cult.
1. ‘War and Society in a Mycenaean Kingdom* in Arm ees et fiscalite dans le
monde antique. Colloques nationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, no 936, Paris 14-16 October 1976, Paris 1977,35-64, esp. 40. For the social
status of po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo and their religious function see also K. Wundsam, D ie
politische und soziale S tru k tu r in den m ykenischen Residenzen nach den Linear
B Texten, Wien 1968, 69 and 79, who, however, believes that 'auf das Problem
«Kult und Wirtschaft» kann nur kurz hingewiesen werden*. For the position of
ka-ke-w e in general in the social structure of the Mycenaean world (given the very
limited information provided by the tablets on this issue) see A. Heubeck, A us
der W elt der friihgriechichen Lineartafeln, Gottingen 1966, 68-9. See also M.
Lindgren, op. cit.
2. For 'official and popular cults in Mycenaean Greece* see R. Iiagg, 'Offi­
cial and popular cults in Mycenaean Greece’ in R. Hagg and Nanno Marinatos,
(eds), Sanctuaries and Cults in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the First
International Symposium at the Swedish Institute in Athens, 12-13 May 1980,
Stockholm 1981, 35-9. This study does not, however, disregard the serious prob­
lems that the Linear B texts present in providing information about religion and
cult: ibid., 35: 'Relatively reliable evidence for what is Mycenaean is offered by
the Linear B tablets as regards the names of deities etc., but unfortunately they
do not tell us very much about the actual sanctuaries and cults. This, of course,
is due to their function as administrative documents'.
3. But see also Wundsam, op. cit., 79: 'Man konnte von «Tempelwirtschaft»
sprechen, sofern man den Terminus nur als Antithese zu «Palastwirtschaft» versteht'. It is, however, surprising that Poseidon, the chief god in the Pylos tablets,
appears exclusively as a receiver of offerings and do-so-mo (e.g. PY Un 718.1:
po-se-da-o-ni do-so-m o= Ποσειδάονι δοσμός, 'a contribution to Poseidon'), and
has nothing to do with the production process (ibid., 79), as Potnia does.
144
S. C onstantinidou
sels and te n hum an beings, are sent (most probably by the people of
Pylos under the supervision of the palace) to various sanctuaries lo­
cated in P akijanes, which seems to be a very im portant cult-place
in the vicinity of Pylos. The religious offerings as well as the sanctu­
aries are linked in the record with particular gods and goddesses
some of whom are well-known from the later Greek pantheon1.
F u rth er to the above the following evidence seems very impor­
ta n t: an unguent boiler (arepazo[-o) called Pirajo in PY Un 249, is
po-ti-ni-ja-w c-jo, i.e. he belongs to Potnia; to him various materials
are issued, most probably for the m anufacture of perfumes. And ev­
idence from Knossos, Mycenae and Thebes shows th a t marineus,
a nam e which m ay stand for Mallineus, can be added to the Myce­
naean pantheon as a divine personality. There is strong indication,
as L .R . Palm er12 argues, th a t this divinity was associated with tex ­
tiles. His woikos is mentioned in a Knossian tab let (As 1519.11: marinewo w oikode), 'to the woikos of marineu’ a similar expression to
potinija wokode, 'to the woikos of P otnia’ in TH Of 36.2, to whom
wool is offered.
All these examples indicate the existence and function within
the world of the Mycenaean tablets, of divine establishments and
workshops engaged in metal-work and the m anufacture of perfumes,
textiles, etc. The destination of the m anufacturing products, i.e. the
recipients, are m ostly divine beings. The fact th a t the adm inistration
of the Mycenaean palaces was interested in recording all this infor­
1. For PY Tn 316 see Docs1, 284-9, 458-64; L. R. Palmer, The Interpreta­
tion o f Mycenaean Greek texts, Oxford 1963 (repr. 1969), 261-8; M. Girard-Rousseau,
Les m entions religieuses dans les tablettes myceniennes, Rome 1968, 22-3; Hooker,
Linear B. A n Introduction, 158-62; W. Merlingen, 'Deux observations concernant
Pylos Tn 316*, A thenaeum 46(1958), 383-8; L.R. Palmer, Ά Mycenaean calendar
of offerings*, Eranos 53(1955), 1-13; J. Chadwick, The Mycenaean World, 89 ff.
In a more recent article Anna Sacconi (*La tavoletta di Pilo Tn 316. Una registrazione di carattere eccezionale?*, Minos 20-22 (1987), 551-5) rejects the theory of
an exceptional ceremony for appealing to the gods with human sacrifices and the
offering of gold vases to save Pylos from destruction and suggests that the text of
Tn 316 refers to an annual procession, whereas the human beings mentioned are
the priests and the priestesses.
2. Som e New Minoan-Mycenaean Gods, Iunsbrucker Beitrage zur Sprachwissenschaft ( Vortrage und Kleinere Schriften 26), Innsbruck 1981, 7 ff. J.T. Killen,
'Bronze-working at Knossos and Pylos*, H erm athena CXLIII (1987), 64 f., does
not accept as certain whether m a-ri-ne-u in KN As 1519 is a divine personality or
not; ho is, however, according to Hie evidonce, 'engaged in the production of per­
fumed oil*.
The im portance of bronze in early Greek religion
145
mation supports L.R . Palm er’s view1 th a t: ‘W h at has emerged is a
complex and highly centralized totalitarian society in which the gods
and their tendance are all pervading
W ith the above views in mind we now tu rn to th e role and signif­
icance of the po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo ka-ke-we (TIorviaFeloi γαλκηΡες).
Are they independent artisans or attached to th e palace?12 T h at they
are ‘in the service of P otnia’ is an interpretation which should not
be rejected as the word is an adjectival derivative of Potnia, of a
word which m ost likely denotes a particular goddess in Mycenaean
times. The fact th a t her name ‘is applied to persons and property a t
a num ber of sites in the kingdoms of Pylos and Knossos’, according
to Chadwick3, suggests th a t the po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo are a guild of crafts­
men devoted to her. Chadwick also refers to parallels of such a com­
bination of cult and craft in Crete, e.g. the cave of A rkalokhori m en­
tioned above which functioned as a shrine and a bronze-sm ithy, as
well as the ivory-workshop adjacent to a shrine in th e Citadel House
at Mycenae4.
The Linear B evidence so far shows th a t it is alm ost certain th a t
temple workshops existed during the tim e of th e tab lets and th a t
these were linked to the cults of the deities (as far as bronze w ork­
shops are concerned they were linked to P otnia). On the other hand
1. Som e New Minoan-Mycenaean Gods, 5.
2. For a detailed study of the information given by the Jn series concerning
the distribution of bronze and the organization of the bronze industry as well as
for etymological suggestions and the meaning of tarasija in the same series, see
Yves Duhoux, Aspects du Vocabulaire economique m ycenien , (cadastre-artisanat - fiscalite), Amsterdam 1976, 102-15. See also M. Lejeune, *Les forgerons
de Pylos’, H istoria 10 (1961), 415-34.
3. ‘What do we know about Mycenaean religion?’, in A. Morpurgo-Davies
and Y. Duhoux, (eds), Linear B: A 1984 Survey. Proceedings o f the Mycenaean
Colloquium of the VHt h Congress of the International Federation o f the Societies
of Classical Studies (Dublin, 27 August-lst September 1984), Louvain-la-Neuve 1985,
95. That the word po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo is an adjective derived from Potnia (Ποτνιαεΐοι=
'of, or belonging to Potnia’), who were most probably attached to one of the
sanctuaries of the goddess and depended on her priesthood is being accepted by
most scholars: see G. Pugliese Carratelli, Ί bronzieri di Pilo Micenea’, S tu d i
Classici e Orientali 12 (1963), 250; Docs2, 509; cf. M. Lejeune, 'Les forgerons de
Pylos*, 423: ‘L’adjectif potinijaw ejo, avec un suffixe dont on a peine h rendre
compte, d0rive 6videmment de p o tin ija — Πότνια, nom de la Grande D0esse, qui
parait avoir tenu une place pr6pond0rante dans la religion de Pylos. -Mais la
nature du lien qui unissait ces forgerons au eulte de Πότνια demeure imprecise’,
4. See Docs2, additional commentary, p. 509.
446
S. C onstantinidou
there is evidence for ‘industrial* workgroups involved in bronzeworking
described as qa-si-re-wi-ja or supervised by a qa-si-re-n in Knossos
and Pylos respectively, who are suggested to be the ordinary, secu­
lar or ‘royal* sm iths opposed to po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo. It m ust be adm it­
ted, however, th a t the evidence of the tex ts provides no clear divi­
sion between the ‘secular’ and th e ‘religious* in Mycenaean times; no
firm dividing-line can then be drawn safely between the ‘Palace
economy* and the ‘Temple economy*1.
Before we tu rn to the Knossos evidence let us mention the rest
of po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo references in the Pylos tablets. PY Ep 613 and
Eq 213 record potinijawejojo (genitive sing. masc. or neut.) while in
P Y Qa 1299 we have a v arian t form potinijawijo (Potniawios). Ac­
cording to Lejcune12, one would expect the forms *potinijajo or *potinijaijo (*Ποτνιαϊος) instead of potinijaw ejo and potinijaw ijo. How­
ever, this is not y et the tim e to reach a conclusion about this very
interesting adjective of our texts. At this point it is necessary to con­
centrate our discussion exclusively on the religious significance of
the word. It m ust be adm itted, though, th a t ap art from their etym o­
logical connection w ith the divine Mistress Potnia, there is nothing
in th e tablets to tell us clearly about the cultic activities of the p o ti­
nijawejo kakewe, the ΠοτνιαΓεϊοι χαλκήΡες. Nor it is certain th a t
such were their only activities. The evidence of the tablets shows
th a t cult personnel —even those whose occupational connection with
cult is more obvious— functioned on a cultic as well as on a secular
level, so th a t it m ay be wrong to assign them exlusively to the first3.
The same problem exists in our attem p t to find similarities concern­
ing th e social statu s of potinijaw ejo and that, of a θεοϊο δοέ?.ος. It is
notew orthy here th a t one of the kakewe potinijawejo (in P Y J n 3 1 0 ),
who is called Iw aka, owns a doero recorded together with the doero
of other ordinary sm iths4.
1. But see also J.T. Hooker, M y c e n a e a n G re ece , 190: ‘My treatment of the
Pylos tablets, superficial though it has been, suffices to indicate how often we
meet references to persons or events with religious connotations. Naturally so,
for it is an artificial and arbitrary proceeding to distinguish the ‘religious* from
tho ‘secular* in any Bronze Age society*. On the other hand J. Chadwick (‘What do
we know about Mycenaean religion?*, 200) supports that the ‘concentration of rec­
ords in palaces clearly demonstrates that the secular power was dominant over
tho religious’.
2. ‘Les forgerons do Pylos’, 423 notes 65, 66.
3. See Lindgrcn, o p . c i t ., 10.
4. Seo Lejoune‘ *Los forgerons
Pylos*, 423 notes 62 and 68; cf. 409 n.l. For
tho occupational name k a - k e - u : χ α λ κ εύ ς ‘smith* which belongs to that set of terms
I
The im portance of bronze in early Greek religion
147
Let us now examine the Knossos texts. The uniform ity of the
information provided by the tex ts which come from different Myce­
naean centres is obvious in m any aspects of the civilization, e.g. in
social organization, religion, 'industrial’ and agricultural activities
or, in general, in economy b u t above all in language1. Thus potinijawejo is also recorded in Knossos though in different contexts. There
is no clear evidence for bronze-smiths of P otnia in the Knossos ta b ­
lets though the possibility of their presence there too, will be discussed
below. In the Knossos documents this adjective is associated w ith
cattle. However, its meaning in the Dl- series is obscure; among
other interpretations are those of 'a m an’s name, title, or adjective
applied to sheep’*12. The adjective may also apply to fleeces from poti-ni-ja-we-jo flocks (see Dp 9 97+ 7206: to-sa ne-wa p o -ka p o -tini-ja-w e-ja), while its feminine recorded in KN G 820.3 (po-ti-ni-jaw e-ja), a list of rations of barley to women from various places, probably
applies to women in divine service (in the service of P otnia) of a
particular geographical area3 (it is w orth mentioning here th e existence
of 'sacred land’, like th a t of Poseidon in th e Pylos tab lets).
However, another record from Knossos which lists vessels seems
to be very valuable for adding new inform ation about the organiza­
tion of bronzeworking a t Knossos—as well as a t Pylos—since no tex ts
recording allocations of bronze similar to the Pylos Jn series come
from the former. This is K( l ) 875, a list of vessels, discussed by J.T.
defined as ‘the terminology of work* and the degree of its specialization in Myce­
naean as well as in later times see Anna Morpurgo Davies* excellent paper, ‘Ter­
minology of power and terminology of work in Greek and Linear B* in E. Risch
and H. Muhlestein, (eds), Colloquium M ycenaeum, Neuchatel-Geneva 1979, 89,
101-3. For specialization of labour in the Mycenaean world see also P. Walcot,
Greek Peasants, ancient and modern, Manchester 1970, 34; idem , ‘The specialisa­
tion of labour in early Greek society*, R E G 80 (1967), 64. For the social status of
the Mycenaean smiths see also I. Tegyey, ‘The Communities of Pylos’ in S tu d ia
Mycenaca. Proceedings of the Mycenaean Symposium, Brno, April 1966, ed. by
A. BartonSk, Brno 1968, 144 f., who believes in the exceptional status of smiths
and their organization in closed small communities.
1. On the linguistic uniformity of the Mycenaean texts see A. MorpurgoDavies, ‘Mycenaean and Greek Language* in Linear B : A 1984 S u rvey, op. cit.,
84 f., 97 f.; see also J.T. Killen, ‘Bronze-working at Knossos and Pylos’, 61.
2. Docs2, 354. See also J. Chadwick, L. Godart, J.T. Killen, J.-P. Olivier, A.
Sacconi, I.A. Sakellarakis, (eds), Corpus o f Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knos­
sos, vol. 1 (1-1063), Cambridge and Rome 1986, nos 930, 933, 943, 946, 950.
3. See Josd L. Melena, Studies on some Mycenaean inscriptions from Knos­
sos dealing with textiles, Suppl. Minos 5 (Salamanca 1975), 29; Docs2, 215.
44έ
S. C onstantinidou
Killen in a very interesting article entitled ‘Bronze-working at Knossos and Pylos* and m ay be evidence for the presence of potinijawejo
smiths a t Knossos as well. According to J.T. Killen, the term qa-sire-wi-ja which precedes the word di-pa ( — δεπας), i.e. cups, in all
the lines of the above record, represents an ‘industrial unit* whose
product are the vessels recorded. This workgroup seems to be
involved in bronzeworking and supervised by th e qa-si-re-u as is the
case in some te x ts from Pylos (see Jn 431, 601 and 845) and probably
from Thebes (Ug series); although in the la tte r the textual evidence
is not clear, so th a t the assum ption for th e association of qa-si-re-u
and bronzeworking is made by the presence of bronze objects found
in the room adjoining the one where the above tablets were found.
The qa-si-re-wi-ja group of workers seems to be a distinct group
from th a t of po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo also read in the above document
(this is m ost probably th e correct reading of p o -ti-[ in line 6 of K( l )
875), i.e. of the workers associated w ith Potnia. Thus, as in Pylos
so in Knossos bronzeworking had a similar organization where two
groups were engaged, th e ‘secular* or ordinary smiths attached to
qa-si-re-u and the po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo sm iths attached to Potnia1.
The Linear B evidence, then, suggests th a t the po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo
sm iths are the religious smiths, those linked with the one section of
the ‘palace* economy and opposed to, or rather co-existing with, the
‘royal sm iths’ so th a t we can talk of ‘a highly centralized economy
closely linked w ith the service of religion*12, or with a temple econo­
m y in Mycenaean Greece. This is exactly m eant by the mention of
ka-ko na-wi-jo in PY Jn 829 which, I believe, in view of the above
discussion m ust be interpreted as ‘tem ple bronze*. To this I shall now
turn.
1. J.T. Killen, ’Bronze-working at Knossos and Pylos’, 61-72. See also L.
R. Palmer, Interpretation, 95, 227 f.
2. Ib id ., 95. Moreover, bronze-smiths are fathers of women in religious ser­
vice, according to PY An 607. 6-8 (do-qc-ja do-e-ra m a-te pa-te-de ka -ke-u f
W O M A N 1 do-qe-ja do-e-ra m a-te p a-te-d e ka-ke-u f W O M AN 3: i.e. the wo­
men recorded here have their mothers as slaves of do-qe-jat a divinity rather than
a cult personage) to whom the above women are attached, while their fathers
are bronze-smiths. And this is, of course, one possible interpretation of this noto­
riously difficult text. Howover, though there is no direct evidence for that, the
hypothesis can be made that their fathers were in divine service too, perhaps
similar to that of tho po-ti-ni-ja-w e-jo smiths. For such ’activities of bronzesmiths in temple life* see also L. R. Palmer, Mycenaeans and Minoans. Aegean
Prehistory in the light o f the Linear B tablets, 2nd rev. edn 1965, 111 ff.; cf, idem,
Interpretetation, 127-8.
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
149
The phrase consists of ka-ko which is obviously the Mycenaean
writing of the word χαλκός (here in the accus. case) and na-w i-jo} an
adjective qualifying ka-ko. This second word, na-w i-jo, has raised a
long duscussion as to w hether it represents the Mycenaean word m ean­
ing ‘ship’ (ναϋς) or th a t meaning 'temple* (ναός)1. The la tte r is now
more generally accepted despite the difficulty in accepting th a t ναός
could be interpreted as 'temple* in Mycenaean tim es for such, as we
know them from later religious architecture, were not attested dur­
ing the above period; we may perhaps apply to it th e meaning of a
shrine12.
Nevertheless, the religious significance of ka-ko na-wi-jo (χαλ­
κόν vdFtov) of the above docum ent is indicated by the m ention in the
same te x t of some other words which seem to belong to th e religious
terminology and the sphere of cult3. These are the ka-ra-w i-po-ro:
κ?.αΓίψόροί=κ?,είδοϋχοί (Doric κλακοφόροι), 'key bearers* who seem to
be religious officials whose title was probably associated w ith priest­
hood; however, in the case of Jn 829 th e κλαΕιφόροι were probably
priestesses. Another word on th e same tab let (PY Jn 829) makes
its connection w ith cult even stronger: this is the word p a-ki-jap i, an ablative-instrum ental in -φι of th e place-nam e pa-ki-ja-na,
which is suggested by other tablets (e.g. PY Tn 316) to be the mame
of a very im portant religious centre of Pylos. W ith these points in
mind the mention of ka-ko na-wi-jo is rath er inclined tow ards cult
usage and its interpretation as 'tem ple bronze’ should not be rejected:
it was either the bronze which the temples had already acquired and
was now required for the making of weapons —I will not deal here
w ith the possible critical situation at Pylos— or this bronze was des­
tined for use in temples, perhaps for the m aking of dedications which
1 . The possible meanings of ka-ko na-wi-jo have been discussed b y St. Hiller,
*ka-ko na-wi-jo: Notes in interdependences of tem ple and bronze in the Aegean
Bronze Age', Colloquium M yccnaeum , op. cit., 189-94 and A. L eukart, ‘A utour
de ka-ko na-wi-jo: quelques critfcres*, ibid., 183-7. As far as the first m eaning is
concerned, th a t of ‘ship’, St. Hiller, art. cit., 190 stresses th a t ‘Bronze plays no
im portant p art, if any, in Bronze Age ship-building*.
2. Hooker, Linear B. A n Introduction, 1 1 1 .
3. And it is exactly the ‘internal textual aspect resulting from Jn 829 th a t
seems decisive’ according to Hiller, op. cit., 190. However, H iller giving various
examples for the use of bronze in ancient Greek architecture (the evidence is a r­
chaeological as well as tex tu al), proposes the interpretation of the above phrase
as ‘building bronze’ and suggests th a t the term νόϊος is ‘connected w ith the fun­
dam ental and general meaning of a «dwelling place, house, building»’: ibid., 193.
150
S. Coostantinidou
in the case of Jn 829 were probably weapons, a dedication well known
from Greek temples (Paus. 3.3.8).
The above Mycenaean phrase acquires a further importance in
light of the evidence from Cyprus, i.e. the archaeological discoveries
a t Kition and Enkomi where workshops of bronze were found very
close to temples1. Furtherm ore, according to the literary evidence,
mythological or not, the use of bronze is associated w ith secular as
well as w ith religious architecture. In Homer this m etal is used for
the palaces of Alkinoos (Od. 7.86; 13.4), Menelaos (Od. 4.72) b u t
also for those of Zeus and Hera (Od. 8.321: ... ol <5* άγέροντο θεοί ποτϊ
χα?&οβατές δώ; cf. Π. 1.426: Δώς ηοτι χαλκοβατές δώ; 14.173: Διός κα­
τά χα?.κοβατές δώ), Hephaistos (ΤΙ. 18.369-71: 'Ηφαίστου δ’ ικανέ δό­
μον Μ έτις... χάλκεον). Hades’ house was also bronze-walled (Π. 8.15).
In Hesiod (T h . 726), T artaru s’ threshold was made of bronze12. The
literary tradition corresponds to reality in actual architecture. Bronze
was used in the Mycenaean tholos tom bs as p a rt of their decoration
rather th an for actual building. St. Hiller3 cites m any examples
showing ‘the im portance of bronze in early Greek architecture and
in particular for th e origin of the Greek temple ...’: e.g. the Tombs
of Agamemnon and of K lytaim nestra a t Mycenae, the Treasury of
Minyas a t Orchomenos etc.
The Cyprus evidence: Copper wOrkshops associated with
sanctuaries and religion
However, as has been mentioned above, the most im portant
archaeological evidence for th e association of temple economy with
m etal-working comes from Cyprus. Certain finds there show th a t
‘the copper industry was p u t under th e protection, and hence the
control, of religion and the religious authorities’4.
In the ‘island of copper* the metallurgical activity which seems
to have been increased in the late Bronze Age and the early Iron
Age Cyprus covered m any aspects of everyday life, e.g. tools, ves­
1. See below, 151 f.
2. See Hiller, a r t. c it., 192; Sinclair, H e s io d , W o r k s a n d D a y s , comm, on 150.
3. A r t . c i t .t 191 f.
4. V. Karageorghis, C y p r u s , fr o m th e S to n e A g e to th e R o m a n s , London
1982, 104.
i
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
151
sels, weapons, and personal objects as well as religious dedications1.
According to the archaeological evidence dating from the end of the
Bronze Age some Cypriot sanctuaries were very close to copper
workshops and were associated with the m anufacture of this m etal12.
Such are attested at Enkomi, Kition and there are indications th a t
they may have existed at Golgoi as well.
The famous bronze cult statues of the 'horned god* of Enkomi,
dated to the 12th cent. B.C. and also known as the 'In g o t God’ because
he is represented standing on an ox-hide 'ingot5 base, as well as
another bronze statu ette of a female figure also standing on an 'o x ­
hide* ingot, who may be the god’s divine consort, are believed to be
the divine protectors of the copper mines and the copper industry of
Cyprus3*. The male deity’s representation is th a t of a w arrior —he
carries a shield and spear— which emphasizes his protective aspect
over the most im portant industry of the island, th a t of copper; he is
an overseer of the prosperity of the island. Similarly, the 'ingot god­
1 . Veronica Tatton-Brow n, A ncient Cyprus, London 1987 (British Museum P u b ­
lications), 18 ff.; see also Mycenaean A rt from Cyprus, D epartm ent of A ntiqui­
ties, Nicosia 1968, Picture Book No 3, 5 f.; H .W . Catling, C ypriot Bronzew ork in
the Mycenaean World, Oxford 1964 (passim ); J.D . M uhly, (ed.), Early M etallur­
gy in Cyprus 4000-500 B.C. (Acta of the In tern atio n al Archaeological Sym posium ,
Larnaca 1-6 June 1981), Nicosia 1982 (passim ). For the archaeological evidence
indicating the capability of Cyprus for producing the am ounts of copper th a t
created the island’s fame as the ‘island of copper’ and one of the main export
centres of this m etal, an evidence which agrees w ith the tex tu al evidence as well,
see Y. Lynn H olm es,‘The Foreign Trade of Cyprus during the L ate Bronze Age*
in N. R obertson, (ed.), The Archaeology of Cyprus. R ecen t D evelopm ents, New
Jersey 1975, 90-110. For Cyprus as ‘one of the very im p o rtan t centers of bronze
work* see also M. H eltzer, ‘The trade of Crete and Cyprus w ith Syria and Meso­
potam ia and their eastern tin-sources in the X V III-X V II century B.C.*, Minos 24
(1989), 7-27.
2 . Cf. V. Tatton-B row n, op. cit., 47. On ‘the spatial association between me­
tallurgical installations and «religious» structures a t the Cypriote sites* see A. Ber­
nard Knapp, Copper Production and D ivine P rotection: Archaeology, Ideology
and Social C om plexity on Bronze Age Cyprus, S lM A k l (Goteborg 1986) (passim ).
In his extrem ely interesting study, A. Bernard Knapp has adm irably discussed is­
sues like ‘the relationship between copper production and divine protection*, ‘re­
ligious ideology... regarded as an elem ent internal to the economy, and to the so­
cial relations of production* (see preface v i), ‘Religious Ideology, and Socio-Po­
litical Evolution’ etc., all w ith special reference to Cyprus.
3. See V. Karageorghis, op. cit., 61-113, esp. 92 ff.; cf. A.C. Brown and H .W .
Catling, A ncient Cyprus, Oxford 1975 (repr. ‘w ith am endm ents to page viii and
an extended bibliography and index of excavated m aterial’), Oxford 1986, 33 ff.
and pi. X III, See also A. B ernard K napp, op. cit., 9 ff.
152
S. Constantinidou
dess' is the female protectress of fertility, i.e. of the abundant pro­
duction of th e copper mines1. V. Karageorghis12 sees in this associa­
tion a similar relation to th a t between Hephaestos and Aphrodite in
Greek mythology, i.e. the association of a 'smith-god* with a goddess
of fertility. Relevant to the iconography of the 'ingot-gods’ are the
m iniature ox-hide ingots from Cyprus; the m ajority of them are in­
scribed and they have been ascribed a religious function suggested
to be votive-offerings associated w ith th e prosperity of the copper
industry3. Connections of m etallurgy w ith religion are also found in
other parts of Cyprus as in th e sanctuary a t M yrtou-Pigadhes and
the Temple of A phrodite a t Palaepaphos4.
The religious aspect of m etal-working is a phenomenon known
from other Eastern religions and is very well attested in mainland
Greece and the Aegean. In the case of Cyprus it is regarded as an in­
novation introduced by the Achaean settlers and adapted to the is­
land’s special features5. W ith this evidence in mind I shall tu rn now
to th e mythological (and in some degree historical) tradition refer­
ring to 'brazen tem ples’, in particular to the old temple of A thena
1 . The type of the ‘W arrior God’ seems to be of oriental origin b u t is well a t­
tested in m ainland Greece, the Aegean, and in general the M editerranean world.
I t appears in the iconographic forms of a ‘H um an w arrior’, the ‘W arrior God*, the
‘H orned God’ and the ‘Ingot God’; the last two come from Cyprus. The model of
the ‘W arrior God’ is also found in later Greek religion, both in art and literature,
in the divine figures of Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo: see B.C. Dietrich, ‘Some for­
eign elem ents in M ycenaean Cult places and figures’, in L in ea r B : A 1984 S u rve y ,
op . cit., 232-4; id em , T ra d itio n in Greek religion , 106 f., 145 f., 165-9. For the ori­
gins, their cult-aspects and the im portance of the temple-gods of Ivition and Enkomi, as well as their association w ith the copper industry of the island and its
prosperity as fertility divinities, see also Jacqueline Karageorghis, L a grande de esse de C hypre et son culte. A travers Viconographie, de l* epoque n eolithique au
V U m e s. a.C., Lyon 1977, 100-5.
2 . Op. cit., 104.
3. See Catling, C yp rio t B ronzew ork, 268.
4. V. Karageorghis, op. cit., 104. F or the copper deposits and copper sm elt­
ing sites on Cyprus as well as the im portance of the evidence for the connection
between m etallurgy and religion see also J.D . Muhly, Copper and Tin. The D is­
trib utio n o f M ineral Resources a nd the N a tu re o f the M etals Trade in the Bronze
A ge, T C A A S 43 (1973), 90 ff.
5. V. Karageorghis, op. cit., 105. Cyprus, whoso im portance for the transm is­
sion of religious ideas and ‘for the shaping and diffusion of Greek m yths is consid­
erable*, was associated w ith the legendary people called Telchincs, known as fa­
mous craftsm en and especially metalworkers: E.M. Craik,*Cyprus and the Aegean
islands: Links in myth*, R ep o rt o f the D e p a rtm e n t o f A n tiq u itie s, C yprus, Nicosia
1979, 177-80.
I
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
153
Ghalkioikos in Sparta, and the im portance of bronze in cult in ac­
cordance with certain ancient Greek festivals.
Athena Chalkioikos - Chalkeia - Heraia
As has already been shown, the earliest reference to the use of
bronze in temples is found in the Mycenaean docum ents in Linear
B presented above. The mention o f'tem p le bronze’ in .Tn 829 is prob­
ably associated, from the religious point of view, w ith the word χαλκίναος, an Hesychian gloss equated to Χαλκίοικος, an epithet of A thena
in Sparta which literally means 'she of the Bronze House’ (Hsch. s.v.
Χαλκίναος' Χαλκίοικος; cf. ibid., s.v. Χαλκηδάνη' ταντης ιερόν εν Σπάρrrj). The second component, οίκος, is w ritten on a Linear B tab let
from Thebes (TH Of 36.2 )x where it is associated w ith a divine word,
Potnia. Thus po-ti-ni-ja wo-ko-de (Potnias woikonde—Ποτνίας Folκόνδε I οΐκόνδε), 'to the temple / or the house of Potnia or Mistress’12,
can be considered as additional evidence for the origin of a tradition
found in the epithets of A thena at S parta, Chalkioikos and Chalkinaos. Both words, οίκος and ναός, were probably used in Mycenaean
times for the 'tem ple’ of a god or a goddess.
Chalkioikos is usually taken as a descriptive of A thena’s sanc­
tuary in Sparta referring to her tem ple’s bronze decoration, proba­
bly to bronze plates which covered th e walls (Paus. 3.17.3), to doors
made of bronze (cf. Euripides’ mention of χαλκόπυλος, 'she of th e
Bronze Gates’: Tro. 1113 and schol. ad loc.), or even to th e goddess’
bronze statue (Paus. 3.17.2)3. Tn the A thenian literary sources the
1. See Th. G. Spyropoulos and J . Chadwick, The Thebes Tablets I I (Including
indexes of the Theban tablets b y J.L . M elena), Minos Suppl. 4 (Salam anca 1975), 89.
2. Cf. J.T . Hooker, Linear B. A n introduction, 155: 'p o -ti-n i-ja w o-ko-de
m ust stand for Π οτνΙάςFoixdvde 'to the house of the Lady*: it is possible th a t early
Greek Folxog, like L atin aedes, could mean either 'house* or 'shrine**. As far as
Potnia of the Linear B tex ts is concerned, there is no general agreem ent as to whe­
ther she should 'unequivocally* be included in the divine personalities of the My­
cenaean period as there is no direct evidence th a t she is always (or ever) a goddess:
see Hooker, op. cit., 114; cf. idem , 'T itles and functions in the Pylian State*, 260;
however, see also John Chadwick’s thorough treatm en t of the word in his article
'Potnia*, Minos 5 (1957), 117-29, where the figure the word represents is suggested
to belong to the divine ra th e r th an to the hum an world; cf. idem , The Mycenaean
World, 92-4.
3. For the cult of A thena Chalkioikos in S p arta se e S .W id e, Lakonische Kulte,
Leipzig 1893, 49, 369 f., 373; L. Ziehen, R E III. A2, 1929, cols. 1454-5; G. Dickins,
154
S. Constab tinidou
epithet Chalkioikos is commonly used as the traditional cult-name
of S partan A thena1 by which the goddess was distinguished from
Poliouchos, a very common epithet in Athens and elsewhere throughout
Greece which m ainly expressed her more im portant aspect as a
city-goddess; whereas in S parta both epithets are used w ithout any
distinction and particularly with almost no chronological distinction.
Nevertheless, an attem p t will be made below to link Athena’s
epithet Chalkioikos w ith bronze, especially w ith weapons and crafts­
m anship. For the name Chalkioikos was not simply connected with
th e decoration of her tem ple but also w ith th e importance of bronze
in A thena’s cult as a goddess of war b u t also as a goddess of arti­
sans and of any technical activity. A special association of Athena
w ith bronze and bronze-sm iths is found in the festival of Chalkeia*
12,
celebrated in Athens on the last day of the m onth Pyanepsion. On
th a t day, about nine m onths before the Panathenaia, the most elab­
orate public ceremony of Athens, the war]) was set on the loom for
the weaving of A thena’s peplos34; a ritual which shows th a t there was
contam ination between the religious function of techne and the civil
cult of A thena Poliasl·, Furtherm ore, so much was Chalkeia associated
'T he H ieron of A thena Chalkioikos. H istory and n ature of the sanctuary', A B S A
13(1906-7), 137-54; J.G . Frazer, P a u sa n ia s* s D e s c r ip tio n o f G re ece , London 1898
(repr. New Y ork 1965), vol. I ll , 344 ff.; M. Guarducci, Ί culti della Laconia', Rome
1984, 93-5; L. Piccirilly, 'll santuario, la funzione guerriera della dea, la regality*,
il caso di A tena Chalkioikos* in M arta Sordi, (ed.), / s a n tu a r i e la g u e rra n el
m o n d o c la ssic o , Milano 1984, 3-19. For the same cu lt see also S. Constantinidou,
L a k o n ia n C u lts: T h e m a in s a n c tu a r ie s o f S p a r ta (unpubl. Ph.D . thesis, Uni­
versity of London 1988), 109-48.
1 . See Ar. L y s . 1300: Χ α λ χ Ιο ιχ ο ν Ά σ ά ν α ν , and schol. a d l o c .: Χ α λχΙο ιχο ν *Ασάvav. Χ α λ χ ίο ιχ ο ς ή 'Α θ ή να iv Σ π ά ρ τ η ; cf. ib id ., 1320: x a l τάν σιάν δ* α δ τάν χρα τίσ τα ν
Χ α λ χ Ιο ιχ ο ν ϋμ νει; E ur. Η el. 228: τά ν Χ α λχΙο ιχο ν, 245: Χ α λχ Ιο ιχ ο ν ώ ζ [VtOarar] μ ό λ ο ι μ \ See also Η el. 1465 ff.; Thuc. 1 . 128.2: έχ έλενο ν δέ χ α ι τδ τή ς Χ α λ χ ιο ίχ ο ν ά γο ς
έλα ύνειν α υτούς; 134.1: π ρ ός τδ Ιερδν τή ς Χ α λ χ ιο ίχ ο ν ... Non-Athenian literary evi­
dence on A thena Chalkioikos’ cult comes m ainly from Pausanias* third book, the
L a k o n ik a (3.17.2-3).
2. F o r this A thenian festival see L. Deubner, A t t i s c h e F e s t e , Berlin 1932 (repr.
H ildesheim 1966), 35-6; H .W . Parke, F e s tiv a ls o f th e A th e n ia n s , London 1977, 92-3;
W . B urkcrt, G re e k R e lig io n . A r c h a ic a n d C la ssic a l, Oxford 1985 (Engl, transl. of
G r ie c h is c h e R e lig io n d e r a r c h a is c h e n u n d k la ssisc h e n E p o c h e , S tu ttg a rt 1977), 168.
3. F or the Panathenaia in general see Μ. P. Nilsson, G rie c h isc h e F e s te vo n
r e lig io s e r B c d c u tu n g m i t A u s s c h lu s s d e r a ttis c h e n , Leipzig 1906, 92 ff.; Deubner,
A ttis c h e F e s te , 22-35; Parke, F e s tiv a ls o f th e A th e n ia n s , 33-50; B urkert, G re ek
R e lig io n , 228-34. „
4 . Nicole Loraux, L e s e n fa n ts d 'A th e n a . I d i e s a th e n ie n n e s s u r la c ito y e n n e te
e t la d iv is io n d e s s e x e s , Paris 1981, 136.
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
155
w ith A thena th a t it was also known under the nam e A thenaia, which
was the original name of the Panathenaia (see Suda s.v. Χαλκεία: εορ­
τή Άθήνησιν, (ί τινες 5Αθηναία καλονσιν, οι δε Πάνδημον* διά το υπό πάν­
των άγεσθαι; H arpocratio s.v. Χαλκεία). And a sacrifice to A thena
Archegetis, an epithet most appropriate for a city-goddess, was also
offered during the Chalkeia.
The name of the Chalkeia derives from copper, χαλκός, and is
obviously connected w ith bronze-sm iths, χαλκεϊς. The festival can
be traced to a much earlier period, probably in the Bronze Age. It was
mainly associated w ith Hephaestos, th e god of craftsm en, as well as
with Athena. However, Deubner1 applies th e festival to A thena while
he accepts for Hephaestos only an unofficial role because, as has
been said above, it was during this festival th a t th e priestess of A thena
and the Arrephoroi started the weaving of the goddess’ peplos (the
work was carried on by the Ergastinai, another group of girls). The
association of the two divinities12 is otherwise attested in A thena’s
epithet H ephaistia; her statue was set up in th e tem ple of H ephaistos
on the hill above the Agora, next to th a t of the god34. As such, as th e
goddess of all handicraft, she is invoked in a fragm ent of a lost play
of Sophocles by the Chorus workers at th e Chalkeia during which a
sacrifice was offered to A thena Ergane*. As far as her cult in S p arta
i$ concerned, there was a sanctuary of A thena Ergane near the tem ple
of A thena Chalkioikos (Paus. 3.17.4).
1 . A ttische Feste,
35 f.
2 . Both were divinities of techne, of craftsm anship. They knew and ta u g h t
the a rt of daidala\ they were craftsm en deities, the protectors of the artisans in .
A thens. Their a ttrib u tes are distinct b u t they often collaborate in relation to a rt,
in the philotechnia. A product of their collaboration was the creation of the first,
woman, Pandora (Hes. Op. 60-82; Th. 570 ff.). H ephaistos and A th en a were also
associated in one of the earliest m yths m entioned in the Iliad (2.547-9), th a t of
the b irth of Erichthonios, the autochthon ancestor of the A thenians and the found­
er of the Panathenaia; this association was very im p o rtan t as the m yth of autochthon y was an A thenian topic w ith political significance. F or the association of the
two gods see Fr. Frontisi-D ucroux, Dedale. M ythologie de Vartisan en Grece
ancicnne, Paris 1975, 24 f. and esp. 62-3: 'L ’association des deux d iv in it 6s est
6 galem ent m arquee sur le plan cultuel a Athfcnes: A thena regoit l’6 pith£te H e­
phaistia et une fete comme celle des Chalkeia, c6l0br6e su rto u t en l’honneur
d ’Hephaistos, porte aussi le nom d’A th^naia et m arque le d 6 b u t de la confection
du p0plos destin 6 a la d<§esse’; see also Parke, Festivals o f the A thenians, 92.
3. For A thena’s and H ephaestos’ joint cult in the H ephaistion see Nicole
Loraux, op. cit., 134-6.
4. For the cult of A thena Ergane see Paus. 1.24.3; 3.17.4; 5.14.5; 6.26.3;
Soph. fr. 844 (R a d t); see P arke, op. cit., 93 w ith n. 107.
'*· *'
■·’
·
v
156
S. Constantinidou'
Thus, while the possibility of bronze decoration in A thena’s
tem ple a t S parta m ust not be denied1 —tradition traced its foundation
to a rem ote past, and most particularly to the Bronze Age as it is
mythologically linked to Tyndareos, the legendary father of the Myce­
naean heroine/goddess Helen, and to his sons, th e Dioskouroi (Paus.
3.17.2)— her epithet Chalkioikos could equally refer to her special
association w ith this metal, either with or through Hephaistos as
th e female divinity of craftsm anship, or (and) as the goddess of war.
Bronze, χαλκός, means also weapons12. And in a rt she was thus m an­
ifested, as a warrior-goddess, covered w ith weapons (see LIM C II.
1, 2, s.v. A thena). Even the m y th of her birth reflects this very im­
p o rtan t aspect of the goddess, th a t of a fully-armed warrior, dressed
in a w arrior’s equipm ent; she leaped fully armed from Zeus’ head,
1 . Pausanias
(3.17.3) describes various mythological scenes depicted on bronze
(probably reliefs), in the temple of A thena Chalkioikos. He is probably referring
to bronze plates which covered the walls ra th e r than saying th a t the building was
m ade of bronze. A large num ber of bronze plates were discovered in the sanctuary
as well as a q u a n tity of bronze nails; some of them were still in position through
the plates which is an indication th a t the la tte r covered the walls of the temple
for decorative purposes: Dickins, op. cit., 138 f. For a discussion on the use of
bronze in the tem ple's architecture and decoration and in relation to the archaeo­
logical evidence see J.G . Frazer, Pausanias*s Description o f Greece, op. cit.,
345 f.
2 . In H om er the word χαλκός is used to denote arm our or arm am ent in gen­
eral, for example see II. 2.457, 578; 4.420, 495; 13. 801 and 4.540 ff. in connection
w ith A thena: δς τις έτ* αβλητος καϊ άνούτατος όξέί χαλκψ / δινεύοι κατά μέσσον, δγοι
δέ έ Παλλάς Ά θήνη / χειοός έλουα*, αύτάρ βελέων άπερύκοι έρωήν. Four hundred and
th irty six references w ith the χαλκ- stem together w ith components and
proper nam es in H om er's Iliad and the O dyssey was the outcome of m y enquiry to
the Ibycus cdu program of the system designed for scholarly use by D r David W.
P ack ard ; quite a surprising num ber of Homeric loci where bronze predom inates, sur­
prising even though it is conceived w ithin the Bronze Age civilization. The Home­
ric references to bronze and the peculiarity over the references to iron, which is
presented m etaphorically or as a rare and precious metal, according to J.T . Hooker,
('From Mycenae to H om er’ in J .H . B etts, J.T . Hooker and J .R . Green, eds,
S tu d ies in honour o f T.D.L. W ebster, Bristol 1988, vol. 2, 58), apply to a society
where bronze was the predom inant m etal and constitute a very strong evidence
pro the M ycenaean origin of the Homeric poems. Despite the controversy sur­
rounding H om er’s use of the word χαλκός as meaning both iron and bronze, bronze
is a basic m etal for arm our in H om er’s and Hesiod’s time: see //. 14.420: W est,
H esiod, W orks and Days, 188-9; cf. A. Snodgrass, 'A n historical Homeric society?*,
J U S 94 (1974), 122: '... and for_Homer bronze is used, for the two prime offen­
sive weapons’, i.e. swords and spearheads, 'n o t "often enough** b u t always. Such
a culture never existed after the end of the Bronze Age*.
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
*57
her weapons flashing, uttering a war cry ( ... ή δε πρόσθεν Διδς αίγιόχοιο I εσσυμένως ώρουσεν άπ άΟανάτοιο καρήνου / αείσασ’ όξνν άκοντα*
μέγας δ* έλε?άζετ 'Ό?,υμπος (Horn. H y m n 28. 7-9, ed. T.W . Allen; cf.
Hes. Th. 924-6: αυτός δ* εκ κεφαλής γλαυκώπιδα γείνατ ΆΟήνην, / δει­
νήν έγρεκύδοιμον άγέστρατον άτρντώνην, / πότνιαν, fj κέλαδοί τε άδον πό­
λεμοί τε μάχαι τε*)1. As such, as a warrior goddess, she was worshipped
each year by armed youths who w ent in procession to her tem ple on
the Spartan acropolis. The inform ation is given by Polybius (4.22.8)
who refers to a procession of S partan warriors to th e Chalkioikos*
sanctuary; its m ilitary character is obvious. During this Spartan
ceremony the ephors remained in the sanctuary of A thena and per­
formed the Ουσίαν πάτριον, the 'ancestral sacrifice* in honour of th e
goddess12.
Consequently, A thena of S parta was not only a city-goddess, a
Poliouchos (however, the m yth about her m iraculous b irth from th e
head of Zeus associated w ith her arm ed appearance is regarded as
another m anifestation of her as a goddess of th e citadel and th e
city)34; she was pre-em inently a warrior-goddess, a Chalkioikos one.
Her cult-nam e m ay apply not only to the stability of her tem ple due
to its bronze structure b u t also to the stability of th e goddess (cf.
Suda s.v. Χαλκίοικος) and to her power as a w arrior and city-goddess.
This aspect of A thena as a powerful goddess of war, is probably al­
luded to by κρατίσταν in Aristophanes* Lysistrata (vv. 1320-1: καί
τάν σιάν δ’ αν τάν κρατιόταν Χαλκίοικον υμνεί / τάν πάμμαχον'Ϋ.
1 . For the m yth of A thena’s birth and its significance for the city of A thens
see R.C.T. Parker, ‘M yths of E arly A thens’ in J . Bremmer, (ed.), Interpretations
o f Greek M ythology, London and Sydney 1987, 190 f. Cf. At. L y s. 1321 τάν πάμμαχον, an epithet which is suggested to be a Lakonian one and was probably for­
med by analogy with the πρόμαχος appearing in the B m anuscript of L ysistra ta
(J. Henderson, Aristophanes Lysistrata, ed. w ith Introduction and C om m entary
Oxford 1987, 2 2 2 ); cf. II. 2.446-54, 2 0 . 48-50; Hes. Th. 928. For a rt representa­
tions on A thena’s birth see LIM C II. 1 , pp. 986-8; II. 2 , pp. 743-5 (nos 343-60).
2 . All festivals of A thena had two common features: the πομπή, the proces­
sion, and the Ουσία, the sacrifice. Both are m entioned in Polybius’ reference to the
Spartan festival which, although not nam ed, was m ost probably the S partan
equivalent of the A thenian P anathenaia (though not as elaborate and glorious as
the Athenian festival): S. Constantinidou, Lakonian C ults, 136 ff.
3. See B urkert, Greek Religion, 1 40 :‘As goddess of citadel and city she m an­
ifests herself in the evocative image of the arm ed maiden, v alian t and untouch­
able; to conquer a city is to loosen her veils’ (II. 16.100).
4. Cf. Suda s.v. Χαλκίοικος: ή ’Αθήνα έν Σπάρτη, ή άτι χαλκοϋν εϊχεν οίκον' ή διά
τό στερεόν είναι' ή διά τό τούς Χαλκιδειζ τούς έξ Εύβοιας φυγάδας αυτόν κτίσαι: *Chal-
158
S. Constantinidou
Chalkioikos may then signify the goddess’ association with th a t
hum an race for whom bronze was the predom inant metal in war, the
earlier bronze-users (των ό’ ην γάλκεα μεν τεύχεα) and everyday life
(χάλκεοι δε τε οίκοι, χαλκω ό’ είργάζοντο) (Hes. Op, 150-1J1. Athena
is not separated from her weapons which shine. Bronze and light, the
shining of bronze, are traits of A thena’s warrior power, they inspire
in warriors the strength for struggle and war, they bring excitement
and courage (II, 4.540 ff.). She is also said to preside over ritual
armed dances, as those of the Kouretes, and be delighted in them *12.
Bronze is used for the form ation of another epithet of Athena, χαλκή
(Dem. 428: παρά την χαλκήν την μεγάλην *Αθήναν), similar to th a t of
Ares, th e god of war, mentioned in the Iliad as χάλκεος'Άρης (5.704,
859, 866; 7.146).
A cult-aspect of A thena comparable to th e above is found in the
cult of Hera at Argos (they were both very im portant civic deities).
D uring H era’s great festival there, the Heraia (which were also
known as H ccatom baia)3, young men participated in the sacrificial
procession to the Heraion, the shrine of the goddess and one of her
m ost im portant cult centres, carrying a bronze shield which they dedi­
cated to her. Bronze shields were also the prizes in the agones th a t
•took place after the procession. The ritual procession had an initia­
to ry character not only for the girls who participated in honour of
th e goddess of marriage b u t also for the arm ed youths; because it
m arked the young men’s capability of bearing arms, as potential
kioikos; th e A thena in S parta; either because she has a brazen house; o r o n a c ­
c o u n t o f h e r ( i t s ? ) s t a b i l i t y ; or because it was founded by Chalkidian exiles from
Euboea* (m y italics): Dickins, fThe Hieron of A thena Chalkioikos*, 137.
1. M. Detienne and J .-P . V ernant, L e s r u se s d c V in te llig e n c e , L a m i t i s d e s
' G re cs, P aris 1974, 172. C f, Hom er, χα λκ ο β α τέζ δώ (Π , 1.426;*14.173; O d , 8.321 of
the house of Zeus and 7.86, 13.4 of th a t of A lkinoos); see W est’s Commentary
( H e s io d , W o r k s a n d D a y s ) , on vv. 150-1. See also above, p. 150.
2 . W est, H e s io d , W o r k s a n d D a y s , 372 f.; D etienne-V ernant, L e s ru se s d e
V in te llig e n c e , 176; cf, B urkert, G re e k r e lig io n , 140. See also P a rk e r,‘M yths of Early
Athens*, 190: ‘... and there is a metallic brilliance about her epiphany appropri­
ate to one who never lurked in the «darkness of the womb» (Aesch. E um . 665)’.
3. M any details of this festival like the procession and the subsequent a g o n ,
the weaving of a p e p lo s for Ilera are also found a t A thens Panathenaia while it has been
pointed out th a t ‘the coincidence of the names Ilecatom baia/IIecatom baion is no
accident*: see W ..B u rk ert, H o m o n e c a n s, Borlin 1972 (Engl, transl. H o m o n e c a n s
T h e A n th r o p o lo g y o f A n c ie n t G re e k S a c r ific ia l R itu a l a n d M y th , Berkeley, Los
Angelos and London 1983, 162-4, 166-8); id e m , G re e k re lig io n , 134.
i
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
159
warriors. And as Richard Seaford1 has pointed out, this m ilitary
element in the ritual procession of the Heraia was not to emphasize
'only the civic equivalent for young men of w hat m arriage is for
girls, b u t also the m ale-dom inated world into which th e girls are in­
corporated*. The young boys* presence as w arriors into th e centre of
the festival m eant th a t th e city’s order could be established and
secured12.
The evidence of Dodona
Let us now tu rn to another function of bronze associated w ith
Dodona. In a collection of essays on Greek culture and m y th w ith an
'emphasis on historical psychology and structuralism* published u n ­
der the title My the et pensee chez les Grecs3 Jean-Pierre V ernant (in
his approach to Hesiod’s m yth of the races and w ith reference to th e
bronze race) has pointed out th e following: 'T he fact is th a t bronze,
by virtue of certain of its attrib u tes, appears to be closely linked in
Greek religious thought w ith th e power possessed by th e defensive
arms of the warrior*4. Such a power is perfectly m anifested by visual
and auditory imagery in Homer referring to the radiance of the m etal
and its sound. In V ernant’s5 w o rd s'th e metallic sheen of the «flashing
1. ‘The eleventh ode of Bacchylides: H era, A rtem is, and the absence of D i­
onysos’, J H S 108(1988), 123. In exam ining the eleventh ode of Bacchylides (ibid.,
118-36) w ith the aim of ‘introducing a dimension ... nam ely the relationship be­
tween the m ythical tradition and the ritually expressed social process of the city
sta te ’ R ichard Seaford suggests th a t certain details of the ode, like the carrying
of bronze shields which is a central elem ent in the H eraia procession, derive from
the Argive cult of the goddess H era.
2 . See B urkert, H om o necans, 163-4, 167-8; cf. Seaford, art. cit., 123-4.
3. Paris 1965, 2 vols.
4. I quote from the English translation of the above book which appeared as
M yth and tkought among the Greeks, London 1983, 13.
5. Ibid., w ith references to Iliad 2.578, 19.362-3 (note here especially th ·
laugh of earth because of the flashing bronze: αίγλη δ’ ουρανόν Ικε, γέλασσε δέ πάσα
περί χθων /χαλκού ύπό στεροπήζ), 20.156; Od. 24.467; Ε. P h. 1 1 0 , cited in notes 52
-54, page 29. Some more references can be added to this flashing power of bronze
like II. 2.457-8: ως των ερχομένων άπό χαλκού θεσπεσίοιο / αίγλη παμφανόωσα δι αΐΘέρος ουρανόν Ικε; 13.245: ώς τού χαλκός έλαμπε περί στήθεσσι Οέοντος; 13.340-2: άσ­
σε δ* άμερδεν / αυγή χαλκείη κορύθων άπο λαμπομενάων / θωρήκων τε νεοσμήκτων σα­
κιών τε φαεινών; 13.800-1: ώς Τρώ ες... χαλκώ μαρμαΐροντες; 14.11: χαλκώ παμφαϊνον;
Od. 4.72: χαλκού τε στεροπήν κάδ δώματα ήχήεντα. See also G.S. K irk, The Ilia d : A
Commentary, vol. i: books 1-4, Cambridge 1985, 163, on 2.457-8: ‘The gleam and
flash of polished bronze are a recurrent image in the Iliad, a sym bol of m artial
power and valour*.
160
C. Constantinidou
bronze», νώ ρ ο π α χαλκόν, the sheen from the bronze which sets the plain
alight and which «goes up to th e heavens» fills the enemy’s soul with
terror. The sound of bronze against bronze, the φω νή which reveals
its tru e n atu re as living, anim ated m etal, wards off the w itchcraft
of the enem y.’
However, from the battlefield, where th e power of bronze is
variably m anifested, we shall move to th e sphere of prophecy and
more particularly to this m etal’s function and im portance in the oracle
of Dodona. A lthough w ithout remains of a Mycenaean cult build­
ing, excavations a t Dodona have shown th a t a cult was practised
there from Mycenaean times. Mycenaean offerings —among them
bronze objects— of th e 14th and 13th centuries were brought to
light. In the Iliad (16. 233 ff.) Achilles’ prayer to Zeus Dodonaeus
associates th is cult w ith the 'king of gods’ while in the Odyssey (14.
327 ff. and 19.296 ff.) Odysseus pretends th a t he had gone to Dodo­
na to learn Zeus’ plan by consulting his oracle through his oak-tree1.
The beginning of the practice of a cult around the sacred oak-tree of
Zeus, the centre of his cult a t Dodona, was very im portant in the
process of prophecy, it was the source of the prophecy (Od. 14.327 f.;
cf.. Hes. fr. 240 M.-W.: valov 6’ εν πνΟμένι φηγόν). From our point of
view, however, it is im portant th a t the following ritual was practised
around Zeus’ sacred tree as we learn from later sources12: by touching
one of the bronze cauldron-tripods which surrounded the oaktree, the sound was spread to the rest as they touched each other,
and lasted for a long time; according to some ancient sources and
modern views the priests could interpret the divine will by the sound
of the bronze (while others have denied the oracular function of the
bronze vessels a t Dodona). Nevertheless, this sound is also suggested
1 . For the excavations a t Dodona and the most recent archaeological discov­
eries as well as the cult existed there see S. D akaris, D a s T a u b e n o r a k e l vo n D o ­
d o n a u n d d a s T o te n o r a k e l b e i E p h y r a , A n ti k e K u n s t 1963, Beiheft 1,35-55; id e m ,
* Όδύσσεια καί ‘Ήπειρος* in Ιλιάδα και Οδύσσεια. Μύθος και Ιστορία, 142 ff. where
relevant bibliography on the history of the archaeological work done there. For
the oracle of Zeus a t Dodona see H.W . Parke, T h e O ra c le s o f Z e u s : D o d o n a ,
O ly m p ia , A m m o n , Oxford 1967, 1-163; id e m , G re ek O ra c le s> London 1967, 20-5.
2. U nfortunately, these are as lato as the 4th and 3rd centuries B.G. (see Da­
karis, a rt. c i t., 146, 148), though it is possible th a t tho practice was much earlier
considering the im portance of cauldrons in the cult of Dodona. For a discussion
on tho bronze vessels* function in tho ritual of Dodona see Parke, T h e O ra c le s o f
Zeus, 86 ff.
I
The importance of bronze in early Greek religion
^
to have an apotropaic and protective character, averting m iasm ata
while the tripods themselves had a purificatory function1. Thus
w hat the sources (late as they are) make us assume is th a t th e sound
of bronze itself was probably another voice of prophecy, the acoustic
sensation of the divine will, namely the voice of Zeus himself. And
we may perhaps add this feature as well —together w ith th e talking
doves, the rustling leaves or creaking branches of the oak-tree or the
speech (or rath er groaning) of the tree itself— to the oracular re­
sponses of Dodona; as one more feature among those which have
worked towards The claim which Dodona made in later tim es th a t it
was the oldest of Greek oracles*12.
Conclusions
The above evidence has shown, I hope, the interrelation of
bronze and religion in early Greece: as is found in th e Linear B texts,
in the association of Cypriote bronze workshops w ith sanctuaries, in
the cult of A thena Chalkioikos in S parta and the festivals of Chalkeia and Heraia in A thens and Argos respectively, in th e possible
oracular function of the sound of bronze cauldrons in Dodona3.
Thus, the traditional im portance of bronze in m ythology, liter­
ature and religious architecture shows th a t bronzework had its di­
vine aspect not only in ancient Cyprus, as one would expect from th e
'island of copper* (see also 11. 11.16-23), b u t also in other p arts of the
Greek world. Although we m ust be very cautious about th e distinc­
tion of w hat is religious and w hat is not, for such a distinction is n o t
1. See Schol. Theocr. II. 36; Steph. Byz. s.v. Δωδώνη; Suda s.v. Δωδωναΐον
χαλκείον etc. cited by Dakaris, ‘’Οδύσσεια καί ’Ήπειρος*, 146, 148. B u t see also
Ariadne G artziou-T atti, ‘L*oracle de Dodone. My the e t rituel* in Oracles et m a n ·
tique en Grhce ancienne. A ctes du Colloque de Libge (Mars 1989), (Kernos 3),
A thens- Ltege 1990,182: ‘Ainsi l’usage des chaudrons dans le cadre de l’oracle est
polyvalent: li&s au feu, ils sont de l’ordre de la culture et, en ta n t q u ’agents de
l’im m ortalisation e t de la divination, ils rdalisent la jonction entre l’hum ain et le
divin*. On ‘purifying bronze* and its apotropaic function as it was ‘banged against
eclipses*, see R. Parker, M iasm a’, pollution and purification in early Greek religion,
Oxford 1983 (repr. 1985), 288 n. 118.
2 . Parke, Greek Oracles, 25.
3. However, reference should also be made to the fam ous scene of the ex­
change of arm our between Glaucus and Diomedes in Book 6 of the Iliad (vv. 2346 ), a praise of ‘guest-friendship*, of xenia. H om er’s com m ent on this m om entous
act of the unequal exchange of arm our, £v0* αδτε Γλαύκω Κρονίδης ψρένας έξέλετο
Ζευς {II. 6.234) has been variously interpreted: as having a hum orous sense on be­
half of the poet, or as showing Glaucus* cowardliness for saving his life (by giving
162
S. Constantinidou
easily defined in early Greek societies1, the above association of m etal­
lurgy w ith religion shows how Religious ideology should be regarded
as an elem ent internal to th e economy, and to the social relations of
production’*12; a view which, of course, assumes a diachronic significance.
My aim in this work is to emphasize the importance of material
culture —here the im portance of one of its elements, the use of bronze—
for the form ation of spiritual culture (especially for the formation
of religious beliefs and practices). A reflection of bronze’s vital
power (such powers are possessed by other metals as well like iron,
.gold, silver etc.) is found in the phrase γάλκεον ήτορ (II. 2.490; cf. Th.
764, though in this case it has the meaning of lack of mercy on behalf
of D eath)3, while P indar’s χάλκεος ουρανός (P . 10.27) assumes a relihis gold arm our) or even by this act Diomedes accepts Glaucus’ superiority. It* is
• also seen in this 'a clash between the traditions of nobility and peasantry’; or ’the
poet’s editorial com m ent, so rare for him, reflects the m agnitude of Glaucus* mis­
take in judgement* (Finley); or the act is explained on sociological grounds Moot­
ing a t the puzzle from a quite different point of view, the role of the gift in prim i­
tive society’: for the history of the various interpretations given to the scene
(some of which did not avoid ascribing to it values of our society) see W.M.
Calder III, ’Cold for Bronze: Iliad 6.232-3G’ in Studies Presented to Sterling Dow
(D urham , N.C., 1984, GRBS M onograph 1 0 ), 31-5. Thus χρύσεα χαλκείων (Π. 6 .
23), ’golden for bronze ones’, ‘had become an elegant reference to an unfair bar­
gain* (Calder, ibid., 31), as well as a perennial example of the ideal xenia and the
belief to the values of hereditary friendship. Both heroes are pre-em inent in the
epic and have an im p o rtan t share in the heroic kleos. W hat differs is the value of
their arm our. And in any case bronze comes after gold in value in the Homeric
world (II. 2.225-31; 449; 23.703)—ju st as the golden race precedes the brazen one
in term s of hum an prosperity in H esiod’s m yth of races; bronze is a measure of
valuing of w ealth too (O d. 22.57-8; see also II. 10.379; Od. 22.58; 23.341). I t is in
this cultural context (as another aspect in the Bronze Age background of Homeric
culture) and not in a purely religious one th a t the above scene is being mentioned
here. For this episode seo also W. Donlan, 'The unequal exchange between Glau­
cus and Diomedes in light of the Homeric gift-economy’, Phoenix 43.1 (1989), 115; J.T . H ooker, ‘Gifts in H om er’, B IC S 36 (1989), 80; P a t Easterling, 'F riend­
ship and the Greeks* in Roy P orter and Sylvana Tomaselli, (eds), The Dialectics
of Friendship, London 1989, 15.
1. Cf. J.T . Hooker, Mycenaean Greece, 190.
2 . A. Bernard Knapp, Copper Production and D ivine Protection: Archaeo­
logy, Ideology and Social C om plexity on Bronze Age Cyprust SIM A 42 (Gdteborg
1986), vi, 118. J.D . Muhly (Copper and Tin, 167-70), points out the importance
of bronze and the use of metals in goneral not only in the economic but also in the
social and political organization sinco their use implies a more advanced organi­
zation and developed skills as we]j as a growth of metal trade (with the resulting
economic and political developm ent).
3. Seo Verdenius, op. cit., on 109 and 147. Cf. II. 11.241: χοιμήσατο χάλχεον tlm ov (meaning death). Bronze seems not to possess such vital powers in the Ghri-
T he im portan ce of bronze in early G reek religion
gious significance w ith a m etaphorical relevance to religious archi­
tecture; it refers to th e definition of hum an lim itations in relation to
gods, th a t men connot become gods nor walk up to th e brazen sky
because th a t would be an νβρις against gods1.
Thus bronze, an element of m aterial civilization, is transferred
to the literary and religious language and practice m ost probably as
a residue or an inheritance from a period th a t was m arked by its use:
the Bronze Age*12.
stian teaching; for St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians (1.13.1), speak­
ing about the superiority of love says that ‘those who have not love are no bet­
ter than sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal*: Rev. W.J. Conybeare and Rev. J.
S. Howson, The L ife and epistles o f S t. Paul, London 1852.
1. See R.W.B. Burton, Pindar*s P yth ia n Odes. Essays in Interpretation,
Oxford 1962, 6; see also C.M. Bowra, Pindar, Oxford 1964, 189 f. Homer’s ουρανόν
ές πολύχαλκον (II. 5.504; Od. 3.2), or χάλκεον ουρανόν (U. 17. 425), natutally imp­
lies solidity as this is the home of the gods.
2. In relation to the use of bronze in the Homeric poems cf. J.T. Hooker,
'from Mycenae to Homer*, 58:*... the Dark Age poets... depicted a bronze using
society because bronze formed an essential element in the literary language they
had inherited from Mycenaean times’.
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