La Пότνια θηρῶν ou les frontières de l’Autre. Réflexion archéologique sur la signification d’une image homérique en Grèce orientalisante

Abstract

Historians of Greek religion have for a long time been aware of the existence of a deity of pre-Hellenic times of Aegean-Anatolian origins, the mistress of animals and in whose iconographic theme there was a resurgence of interest in various artistic productions in the Greek world during the so-called orientalizing period (end 8th – mid 6th century B.C.). In the late 19th century, this particular image was linked to the protector of the wild world, Artemis, following the expression, πότνια θηρῶν, used by Homer in book XXI of the Iliad to describe the goddess. Since then, the mistress of animals has been interpreted as a forerunner of the goddess Artemis, gradually assimilated with the Olympian twin in the 6th century BC. This unequivocal connection with the complex and ambiguous personality of Artemis needs to be reconsidered in the light of a contextual study using both an iconographic and an archaeological approach, relying especially on a redefining of the inventory of the images studied and a review of their cultic associations.

Keywords

• Artemis
• Gortyn
• Homer
• iconography
• Miletus
• orientalizing period