Ancient Greek religion: Difference between revisions

===Cult images===

[[File:Delphi chryselephantine.jpg|thumb|left|Gold and fire-blackened ivory fragments of a burnt Archaic [[chryselephantine statue]] - [[Delphi Archaeological Museum]]]]

The temple was the house of the deity it was dedicated to, who in some sense resided in the [[cult image]] in the ''[[cella]]'' or main room inside, normally facing the only door. The cult image normally took the form of a statue of the deity, typically roughly life-size, but in some cases many times life-size. In early days these were in wood, marble or [[terracotta]], or in the specially prestigious form of a [[Chryselephantine sculpture|chryselephantine statue]] using ivory plaques for the visible parts of the body and gold for the clothes, around a wooden framework. The most famous Greek cult images were of this type, including the [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia]], and [[Phidias]]'s [[Athena Parthenos]] in the [[Parthenon]] in Athens, both colossal statues, now completely lost. Fragments of two chryselephantine statues from [[Delphi]] have been excavated. Bronze cult images were less frequent, at least until Hellenistic times.<ref>Miles, 213</ref> Early images seem often to have been dressed in real clothes, and at all periods images might wear real jewelry donated by devotees.

 

The [[acrolith]] was another composite form, this time a cost-saving one with a wooden body. A [[xoanon]] was a primitive and symbolic wooden image, perhaps comparable to the Hindu [[lingam]]; many of these were retained and revered for their antiquity, even when a new statue was the main cult image. Xoana had the advantage that they were easy to carry in processions at festivals. The [[Palladium (classical antiquity)|Trojan Palladium]], famous from the myths of the [[Epic Cycle]] and supposedly ending up in Rome, was one of these. The sacred boulder or [[baetyl]] is another very primitive type, found around the Mediterranean and [[Ancient Near East]].

 

Many of the Greek statues well known from Roman marble copies were originally temple cult images, which in some cases, such as the [[Apollo Barberini]], can be credibly identified. A very few actual originals survive, for example, the bronze [[Piraeus Athena]] ({{convert|2.35|m|ft|abbr=on}} high, including a helmet). The image stood on a base, from the 5th century often carved with reliefs.