Samothrace - Ancient Samothrace, Cabeiri, Samothrace Temple Complex, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Tros of Samothrace, Aristarchus of Samothrace (Paperback)

Chapters: Ancient Samothrace, Cabeiri, Samothrace Temple Complex, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Tros of Samothrace, Aristarchus of Samothrace, Archaeological Museum of Samothrace, Battle of Samothrace. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 46. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Samothrace Temple Complex, known as the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, Greek Hieron ton Megalon Theon, is one of the principal Pan-Hellenic religious sanctuaries, located on the island of Samothrace within the larger Thrace. Built immediately to the west of the ramparts of the city of Samothrace, it was nonetheless independent, as attested to by the dispatch of city ambassadors during festivals. It is celebrated throughout the world of Ancient Greece for its Mystery religion, a Chthonic cult which was no less renowned than that of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Numerous famous people were initiates, including: the historian Herodotus - one of very few authors to have left behind a few clues to the nature of the mysteries, the Spartan leader Lysander, and numerous Athenians - the cult is mentioned by Plato and Aristophanes. A period of spectacular development occurred during the Hellenistic period, when it became, after the investiture of Phillip II, a type of Macedonian national sanctuary where the successors to Alexander the Great vied to outdo each other's munificence. It remained an important cult site through the end of the Roman period - the emperor Hadrian visited, and the writer Varro described part of the mysteries - before fading from history towards the end of Late Antiquity. The identity and nature of the deities venerated at the sanctuary remains largely enigmatic, in large part because it was taboo to pronounce their names. Literary sources from antiquity refer to them under the collective appellation of "Ca...http: //booksllc.net/?id=4995547