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Greek city state patron gods

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According to the custom, each ancient and archaic Greek polis would be dedicated to the worship of a particular 'city-state patron god', to whom the population would show reverence in addition to the god or gods of their own personal adherence. The patron gods of Greece are the equivalent of today's patron saints.

A Greek temple in Ancient times would be dedicated to a certain deity. A typical temple would have a statue inside. An altar would be placed outside, upon which offerings would be placed as sacrifices to the city's patron deity. The Parthenon is a famous example of an Ancient Greek temple.

Athena and Apollo are among the most common choices of patron gods of the ancient Greek cities.

Examples of city-state patron gods

  • Athens worshipped Athena, the goddess of wisdom, as a patron city-state god. The designation of Athena as patron of Athens occurred during the Great Panathenaea in 566 B.C., potentially coinciding with construction of the Altar of Athena Polias. An epithet of Athena commonly referred to as Athena Alea, served as patron of the cities of Alea, Mantinea and Tegea.
  • Sparta worshipped Ares as their patron goddess, under the epithet "Athena Poliachos" (Athena Protector of the City). However, while he was not the chief deity, Apollo was widely worshipped in the most important religious celebrations in the polis.
  • Elis and Olympia had Zeus as their city god. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
  • Syracuse, as with Athens, worshipped Athena. Reference to Athena can be seen on their city-state banner.
  • Thespiae was a city/state that worshiped Eros. Due to this, the Thespian hoplites would bear the crescent moon symbol on their shield, the crescent moon was "the lunar Aphrodite". The cult of Artemis in her epithet of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbearing, was also important.
  • The polis of Larissa chose Dionysus, the god of wine, as their god. The symbol for Dionysus was a bull's foot. Another name for Dionysus was Axios Tauros, which translates as 'worthy bull'.
  • Corinth chose Poseidon, lord of the sea, as their city-state patron god.
  • The patron god of Thebes was Dionysus, also called Bacchus and Iacchos. Dionysus' mother, Semele, was a Theban princess. Sophocles' includes in his play Antigone an ode to Dionysus, the guardian of Thebes; in that ode Dionysus is claimed to have Thebes as his most honoured city.
  • Megara worshipped Apollo as their patron god, and as such, he is lauded by the poet Theognis of Megara in his collection of works Theognidea as guardian of the city.
  • The polis of Argos was dedicated to the worship of Hera.
  • The island city-state of Samos, in the Aegean Sea, worshipped Hera too as their patron.
  • Rhodes was a city on an island, which built the Colossus of Rhodes, a giant statue, in honor to their patron god, Helios.
  • Both Eretria and Epidauros worshipped Apollo as their patron god. Eretria, as Apollo Daphnephoros; and Epidauros as Apollo Maleatas (Apollo's son, Asklepios, was also worshipped at Epidauros).
  • The patron god of the city of Miletus, in Asia Minor, was Apollo. The sanctuary and oracle of Didyma, devoted to Apollo, was within Miletus' territory.
  • The patron godess of Ephesus, also in Asia Minor, was Artemis, who had been identified with an oriental mother goddess, like Cybele. The Temple of Artemis, or Artemision, in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
  • The city of Cnidus, in Asia Minor, worshipped Aphrodite as their patron.

    • References

    Greek city-state patron gods Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA