Ephesos and Delos put forward competing claims to be the birthplace of Artemis, but the Delian claim became more widely accepted. Here the triad of Apollo, Artemis, and Leto was worshiped from the eighth century onward, and these cults, particularly that of Artemis, may have had Mycenaean antecedents. One of the enduring riddles of Delian archaeology is the nature of the cache of precious objects found beneath the Archaic (c. 700) temple of Artemis. This was a foundation deposit like the one discovered beneath the temple at Ephesos, but it consisted of true antiques: Mycenaean gold ornaments, a cache of ivory pieces including plaques carved in relief, bronze arrowheads, and potsherds spanning the gap to the Geometric period. The excavator suggested that these were the collected votives from a Mycenaean temple of “pre-Artemis” that preceded the Archaic one and stood on the spot until it was replaced. Others have questioned this reconstruction of a continuous cult because there is little evidence that the island was inhabited from the eleventh to ninth centuries.29 Still, the deposit suggests that the Archaic temple builders wished to emphasize links to the past. Perhaps they chanced upon a long-buried hoard and piously placed the ancient treasures beneath the new temple.
The richest concentrations of Mycenaean and Geometric votives on Delos were found around Artemis’ sanctuary, not that of Apollo, the dominant deity in later centuries. Even in the Classical period, the Artemision remained the spot where the most important votive offerings and heirlooms were preserved. Among these was the famous seventh-century kore (maiden) dedicated by Nikandre to “the Far-Shooter,” the oldest Greek example of a larger than life-size marble statue. Because the hands are pierced to hold attributes, the statue probably represents Artemis rather than a worshiper. Its size and proportions were inspired by Egyptian art. In the temple itself was a seated image of the goddess. Hellenistic inventories of the temple’s treasures record that this statue possessed an extensive wardrobe including crowns, robes, and a necklace.30
Artemis’ sanctuary was associated with two tombs said to be those of maidens from the land of the Hyperboreans, the legendary northern people who sent offerings to Apollo. According to Herodotus (4.35), Arge and Opis came to the island “at the same time as the gods themselves.” Upon their tomb, located behind the Artemision, the Delians scattered ashes from the thighbones burned at the altar. The maidens were the subject of ancient songs, and the Delian women had a custom of taking collections on their behalf. When excavated, their shrine turned out to be a real tomb of Mycenaean date. Another pair of maidens, Hyperoche and Laodike, had a monument in the Artemision itself. Legend said that they came to bring thank offerings for the birth of Apollo and Artemis, but they died without returning home.31 The tale of these girls who died young formed the basis for a Delian rite of passage to adulthood: both girls and boys cut their hair at adolescence and laid it on the tomb as a sign of mourning. For the girls, this was a prelude to marriage. The reason for the location of the monument in the Artemision is clear, for Artemis herself often presided over such rites. Plutarch (Vit. Arist. 20.6) tells us that Artemis Eukleia (of Glory) had an altar and image in the marketplace of every Boiotian and Lokrian town, where she received offerings from couples about to be married.
World History
