In Krete, the worship of a Minoan goddess (or goddesses) of the natural world lingered for centuries. Hellenistic poets and mythographers understood the indigenous Kretan goddesses Britomartis and Diktynna either as companions of Artemis, or as bynames of Artemis herself, but in the realm of cult they continued to be treated as separate deities. Ancient lexicographers tell us that among the Kretans, the name Britomartis meant “sweet maiden.” She was worshiped primarily in the eastern half of the island, and her name with the local spelling Britomarpis appears in Hellenistic treaties of Olous, which possessed an Archaic cult statue said to be the work of Daidalos.21 According to Callimachus (Hymn 3.189-203), Britomartis was a nymph, a beloved companion of Artemis who drew the amorous attention of Minos. He pursued her until, in desperation, she threw herself into the sea and was saved in the nets (diktua) of some fishermen. Henceforth she was called Diktynna. An alternate version says that she hid from Minos in a grove at Aigina and was afterwards worshiped as Aphaia, the unseen (aphanes) goddess.22 These tales are constructed around false etymologies, but give us a few hints about the nature of Britomarpis: as her name suggests, she was a virgin, and she was a mistress of the natural world like Artemis.
Diktynna has nothing to do with nets, but rather with the Kretan Mt. Dikte. On the other hand, Dikte lies in the east, while the major centers of Diktynna’s cult (Kydonia and Lisos) were in the west of Krete, a fact that has puzzled both ancient and modern commentators. A temple of Diktynna built by Samian colonists in Kydonia (Hdt. 3.59) has been located by archaeologists, and a month name Diktynnaios is attested. During the Classical period, Diktynna was more widely recognized than Britomartis, and her syncretiza-tion with Artemis was well underway. Aristophanes (Ran. 1359) already thinks of them as identical, and Euripides (Hipp. 145) describes Diktynna as a mistress of many beasts. Later we hear of Diktynna or Artemis Diktynna in Lakonia, Phokis, and Athens. The Hellenistic poets’ interest in Diktynna coincided with a resurgence of her cult, attested on coins from western Krete starting in the fourth century.23
Before the twentieth century, information about Aphaia was strictly limited to a few late literary sources, which recounted how Britomartis/Diktynna fled to the island of Aigina to escape Minos.24 There, a splendid Doric temple (c. 500) had long been assigned to Athena because she appeared as the key figure in both pediments (the east portrays the sack of Troy by Herakles, while the west shows the capture of the city by Aiakid heroes). This temple also contained a cult statue of an Athena-like, spear-wielding goddess, the right arm of which has been recovered. But a sixth-century inscription (IG IV 1580) revealed that the predecessor of the Classical temple was dedicated to Aphaia: “In the priesthood of [Th?]eoitas, the house of Aphaia was built and the altar; the ivory was added and a wall was built all around.” The ivory in question may refer to ivory components of a cult statue, or plaques of ivory used to adorn the temple interior. A still earlier dedicatory inscription was made to Apha, which is probably the original form of the goddess’ name.25 Aphaia remains an enigmatic deity, and while it is unclear why the fifth-century Aiginetans began to assimilate her to Athena, they may have intended to win for themselves the favor of the better-known goddess who protected their longtime enemy, Athens. They were unsuccessful, for the Athenians eventually expelled the Aiginetans and colonized the island themselves. According to their careful inventory (IG IV 39, c. 431), the pronaos of the temple was full of wooden furniture, chests, and sacrificial implements.
The votive gifts from the sanctuary suggest that Aphaia had a special interest in protecting pregnant and nursing women as well as their babies. This character is apparent even in the Mycenaean objects, which include figurines of women holding infants (though there is, as usual, a gap in the finds between the Mycenaean period and the eighth century). Aphaia’s involvement in rituals of maturation is suggested by the presence of sheet bronze rings used to secure offerings of hair, cut when youths reached the threshold of adulthood. Ulrich Sinn suggests that Aphaia’s sanctuary was a religious center for a confederation of tribes, and was therefore used for festivals that addressed family and tribal continuity.26
World History
