The magnificent temple of which Christian writers speak as that of "the great goddess whom all Asia and the world worshippeth" replaced the earlier and more famous shrine which burned to the ground on the night of Alexander's birth. Two hundred and twenty years had been spent in the process of building the first temple, and when this was destroyed the Ephesians at once began the construction of another even more costly. 136 The older Artemisium is said to have possessed among its treasures four statues of Amazons executed by four of the most distinguished sculptors of the fifth century, Phidias, Polyclitus, Cresilas, and Phradmon. 137 The tradition is only one of many which indicate very close connection between the Amazons and this sanctuary.
The Ephesians themselves looked upon their Artemisium as one of the most sacred spots in the whole world. Tacitus 138 remarks: "Primi omnium Ephesii adiere, memorantes non, ut vulgus crederat, Dianam atque Apollinem Delo genitos: esse apud se Cenechrium amnem, lucum Ortygiam, ubi Latonam partu gravidam et oleae, quae tum etiam maneat, adnisam, edidisse ea numina." This seems to mean that the olive of Ephesian Artemis was set up against the palm of Delian Apollo. Something of this kind happened historically, as Thucydides 139 shows: "There was of old a great gathering of the Ionians at
[paragraph continues] Delos. . . . They went thither to the theoric assembly with their wives and children, just as the Ionians now gather at the Ephesia."
Greek Ephesus owed its origin to the Ionic Immigration and was reckoned among the twelve cities of Ionia, yet in the band of colonists who started out from the Prytaneum at Athens the Ionians were few, although the expedition is designated by their name. Joined with them were the Abantes of Euboea, the Orchomenian Minyae and the Cadmeans of Boeotia, the Dryopes, Phocians, Molossians, the Arcadian Pelasgians, the Dorian Epidaurians, and other tribes whom Herodotus does not mention by name. 140 It may be that the Ionian strain was less strong at Ephesus than in some of the other cities of the group, since this place and Colophon were the only ones of the twelve that did not take part at the Apaturia, the great clan festival of the Ionians. 141 Yet the Codrids, who figured prominently as conductors of the undertaking, were Ionians, 142 and Androclus, son of Codrus himself, was by some 143 believed to have been the founder of Ephesus. Pausanias was told that he fell in battle against the Carians and was shown his tomb at Ephesus. 144
Pausanias 145 represents Androclus, whom he calls "king of the Ionians who sailed to Ephesus," the founder of the Ionic city, but he believes the shrine of Artemis there to be very ancient. He states with certainty that it antedated the Ionic Immigration by many years, being older even than the oracular shrine of Apollo at Didymi. He attributes its establishment to autochthons, Coresus, 146 who was son of
[paragraph continues] Caÿster, and Ephesus. He says that the pre-Ionic inhabitants of the city were Leleges and Lydians--with a predominance of the latter--and that, although Androclus drove out of the land all those whom he found in the upper city, he did not interfere with those who dwelt about the sanctuary. By giving and receiving pledges he put these on a footing of neutrality. These remarks of Pausanias find confirmation in the form of the cult in historic times, which, being in all its essentials non-Hellenic, admits of plausible interpretation only as an indigenous worship taken over by the Greek settlers.
The Artemisium at Ephesus was pre-eminently a shrine which gave rights of sanctuary to suppliants, a fact indicative of a wide difference between this goddess and the Greek Artemis. 147 Those who invoked the protection of the sanctuary appeared with olive-boughs twined with fillets of wool. 148
The Amazons are noticed in legend as founders of the shrine and as fugitives claiming its asylum. Pindar 149 told that they established the sanctuary on their way to Athens to war against Theseus. Possibly this is the account followed by Callimachus 150 in the lines telling how the Amazons set up the βρέτας of Artemis "in the shade of an oak with goodly trunk 151 which grew in Ephesus by the sea." Justin 152 states the tradition that the city itself was founded by the Amazons. Pausanias 153 maintains that Pindar was incorrect in his assertion that the shrine was founded by the Amazons. He
says that long before they started on their Attic campaign they had twice taken refuge at the Artemisium, once from Heracles, and, earlier still, from Dionysus. Tacitus, 154 continuing his quotation of claims put forward by the Ephesians themselves, says: "Mox Liberum patrem, bello victorem, supplicibus Amazonum, quae aram insederant, ignovisse. Auctam hinc concessu Herculis, cum Lydia poteretur, caerimoniam templo." According to this the Amazons inaugurated the custom of seeking asylum at the Artemisium, and to them therefore was due the conspicuous part which the shrine played as a place of sanctuary. It is reasonable to infer from these various sources that in the holy records and traditions of the Ephesian temple the Amazons were prominent. Even Pausanias, who denies that the Amazons founded the shrine, ascribes to their fame, since they were reported its founders, a large measure of the prestige which belonged to the cult of Ephesian Artemis all over the Greek world. He mentions this first in his list of reasons for the great reputation of the shrine, placing it on a par with the extreme antiquity of the sanctuary. Secondary to these two he mentions the wealth and influence of the city and the epiphany of the goddess there. 155 We must, indeed, believe that the Amazons stood in intimate relation to the cult of Ephesian Artemis. Yet in historical times there was a regulation which forbade women to enter the sanctuary. 156
Apart from her name it would be difficult to recognise the Greek Artemis in the deity of Ephesus. The cult statue showed her in form at once primitive and Oriental. 157 It was carved out of a block of wood, 158 shaped like a herm in the
lower part, showing the feet. The torso was that of a woman of many breasts. The type depicted on coins 159 is that of a draped woman of many breasts, wearing a turret-crown on her head and resting either arm on a twisted column. She was served by eunuch priests, called Megabyzi, and by maidens. Presumably these priests are the same as the Essenes, whom Pausanias mentions as servitors for one year, who were bound by strict rules of chastity and required to submit to ascetic regulations of dietary and ablution. 160 The virgins associated with them passed through three stages: Postulant, Priestess, Past-Priestess. 161 There is nothing to indicate the length of their term of service. The Megabyzi were held in the highest possible honour, 162 as were the Galli at Pessinus.
This goddess of the turret-crown and of many breasts, whose shrine required the attendance of the Megabyzi, is certainly a form of Cybele. If we were guided solely by the remark of Pausanias 163 that the sanctuary was founded by the pre-Ionic people of the region, that is, by Leleges and Lydians, among whom the latter were more numerous, we should expect to find the Lydian Mother worshipped here. The name Artemis, under which the goddess appears, indicates that the Greek colonists appropriated the cult which they found. The Lydian Mother was evidently identical with Magna Mater of Phrygia. Yet the Ephesian goddess, who is the Mother
under the name Artemis, is in her cult image neither Cybele as we know her--whether under baetylic form or in the likeness of a matron 164--nor Hellenic Artemis. Artemidorus, 165 the student of dreams, says that peculiar sanctity attached to a particular type which he defines as that of Artemis Ephesia, Artemis of Perge, and the goddess called Eleuthera among the Lycians. It is tempting to ascribe to the mysterious Leleges the differences which separate the type of Ephesia and the other two from Cybele.
All that Pausanias 166 tells about these Leleges at Ephesus is that they were a branch of the Carians. Herodotus 167 says that the Leleges were a people who in old times dwelt in the islands of the Aegean and were subject to Minos of Crete; that they were driven from their homes by the Dorians and Ionians, after which they took refuge in Caria and were named Carians. It seems reasonable to give weight to the remarks of Herodotus on this subject, since he was a Carian-born Ionian. We should infer then that the Leleges of Ephesus, whom Pausanias calls a branch of the Carians, were closely connected with the island-people who were once subject to Minos. Both Herodotus 168 and Pausanias 169 say that the Lycians were of Cretan origin. It is therefore not strange that at Ephesus and in Lycia the same type of goddess was worshipped. Tradition 170 also connected Pamphylia with Crete, which
may account for the presence of the type in Perge. 171 An inscription 172 which dates probably from about the third century B.C. gives direct evidence of association between Crete and Ephesian Artemis. It is the dedication of a votive offering: "To the Healer of diseases, to Apollo, Giver of Light to mortals, Eutyches has set up in votive offering (a statue of) the Cretan Lady of Ephesus, the Light-Bearer (ἄνασσαν Ἐφέσου Κρησίαν φαεσφόρον." The inscription suggests the words from the Oedipus Rex: 173 "Lyceian Lord, scatter, 1 pray thee, for our aid thine unconquerable darts from thy gold-twisted bowstring and with them the fire-bearing rays of Artemis with which she rusheth over the Lycian mountains." The Cretan Light-Bearer may easily be the fire-bearing Artemis of Lycia. The epithet Λύκειος used of Apollo gives the form Λυκεία for Artemis. An Artemis by this name was worshipped at Troezen. 174 The local exegetes were unable to explain the application of the epithet. Therefore Pausanias conjectures that it means, either that Hippolytus had thus commemorated the extermination of wolves at Troezen, or that Λυκεία was a cult epithet among the Amazons, to whom Hippolytus was akin through his mother. It seems highly probable that Artemis Λυκεία was the goddess of Ephesus, Perge, and Lycia, who was known as the Cretan Lady of Ephesus.
Eleuthera, the special name by which this Artemis was worshipped among the Lycians suggests Ariadne, whom Ovid 175 calls Libera. 176 The name belongs to her as the wife of Dionysus in Crete. Dionysus appears in the legends of the Artemisium as one of the foes of the Amazons who drove them
to this asylum. 177 Perhaps the idea of hostility on his part is to be explained by the rites in his honour at the annual festival of the Scierea at Alea. These required that women should be scourged at his altar. 178 In this there is reminiscence of the Egyptian mournings for Osiris, which were marked with practices of self-affliction, and Osiris suggests Atys, the companion of the Asiatic Mother. 179 There is no reason to doubt that Dionysus was closely connected with Cybele. The musical system by which his worship was characterised was Phrygian, 180 and Euripides in the Bacchae completely identifies his rites with those of the Mother. We hear also of men who marched in procession at his festivals with cymbals and tambourines. 181 Considering the fact that at Ephesus and at Pessinus there were eunuch priests, also that Euripides 182 depicts Dionysus as a womanish person who forces Pentheus to assume woman's garments, that elsewhere 183 the god is called man and woman, and, in addition to this, that there was a legend 184 that he received woman's attire from Rhea at Cybela, there is a strong presumption in favour of the hypothesis that Dionysus touches the cult of the Great Mother and that of
[paragraph continues] Ephesian Artemis in some way associated with the strange Oriental idea of confusion of sex. 185 If this interpretation is correct, it probably applies also to the rites of Ariadne, for at Athens in the feast of the Oschophoria two youths dressed as women conducted a chorus in honour of Dionysus and Ariadne. 186
The Ephesian legend of Heracles and the Amazons 187 probably indicates a connection between the cult of Ephesian Artemis and that of the Lydian Heracles. This cult of Heracles is reflected in Greek legend as the adventure of the hero at the court of Omphale. The story runs thus: 188 Heracles was compelled to submit to slavery to this Lydian queen in order that he might recover from the madness which punished him for his murder of Eurytus. Omphale, who was daughter of Dardanus and widow of Tmolus, became enamoured of her captive and married him. He gave up to her his weapons and received in return woman's dress and the distaff. He is represented sitting among the maidens and allowing the queen to beat him with her sandals whenever he has erred in spinning. The names Dardanus and Tmolus suggest, the former, Mount Ida and Samothrace, the latter, Lydia. It is noteworthy that Pausanias 189 identifies this Oriental Heracles with the Idaean Dactyl of that name. Omphale is presumably Magna Mater, and probably the detail of the gift of the weapons 190 to her points to the fact that this goddess was warlike and political in Asia Minor. In this legend, as also in that which connects the Amazons with Dionysus, there
appears the peculiar Asiatic idea of sex-confusion. 191 Granted a close connection between the Oriental Heracles and the Amazons at Ephesus, 192 the supposition does not seem audacious that the most widely spread of all the Hellenic traditions concerning the Amazons, that of the attack by Heracles on Themiscyra, owed its origin to a cult saga typified by that of Ephesus.
To summarise: There was close connection between the Amazons and Ephesian Artemis, a type of the Mother showing Cretan-Lycian affiliations. Their place in the cult gave rise to the two local sagas which emphasise the Oriental idea of sex-confusion.
30:136 On the history of the Artemisium cf. Plin. N. H. 36. 14; Mela, 1. 17; Ptol. 5; Plut. Alex.
30:137 This is Pliny's story (N. H. 34. 53). Students of Greek art are not unanimous in believing that four statues were executed. For a well arranged bibliography on the question cf. Overbeck, Gesch. d. griech. Plastik, 1. pp. 514 ff. and Notes, p. 527.
30:138 Tac. Annales, 3. 61.
30:139 Thuc. 3. 104.
31:140 Herod. 1. 142, 146. Cf. Paus. 7. 2, 1-4.
31:141 Herod. 1. 147. On the Apaturia cf. Ephor. ap. Harpocr. s.v.; Strabo, 9. p. 393.
31:142 The Codrids were refugees who sought shelter at Athens, having been driven out of the Peloponnese by the Dorians (Paus. 7. 1, 9).
31:143 Strabo, 12 and 14. Cf. Paus. 7. 2, 6 ff.
31:144 Paus. 7. 2, 9.
31:145 Paus. 7. 2, 6-8.
31:146 Herodotus (5. 100) gives Coressus as a place-name in Ephesus.
32:147 ἄσυλον δὲ μένει τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ νῦν καὶ πρότερον (Strabo, p. 641). The shrine of Aphrodite Stratonikis at Smyrna was also a place of asylum. Neither Aphrodite nor Artemis appears in such capacity in purely Hellenic cults.
32:148 Et. Mag. 402. 20.
32:149 Pind. ap. Paus. 7. 2, 7.
32:150 Callim. in Dian. 237 ff.
32:151 The Greek is φηγῷ ὑπ᾽ εὐπρέμνῳ. The words hardly bear Farnell's construction (op. cit. 2. p. 482), "in the trunk of a tree."
32:152 Just. 2. 4. So also Hyg. Fab. 237. Cf. St. Basil (s.v. Ἕφεσος) and Eust, (ad Dion. 823), who give Ἀμαζώ as daughter of Ephesus and mother of the Amazons. Cf. Cram. A. 0. 1. 80.
32:153 Paus. 7. 2, 7-8.
33:154 Tac. l. c. (Ann. 3. 61).
33:155 Paus. 4. 31, 8.
33:156 Artemid. Oneirocr. 4. 4. Cf., however, Aristoph. Nub. 599-600.
33:157 On the statue cf. Aristoph. Nub. 590; Aelian, Hist. Animal. 12. 9; Strabo. 12. p. 534; 13. p. 650; Autocrates, Tympanistis.
33:158 The wood was variously described, as beech, cedar, elm, ebony, grape.
34:159 V. coins of Ephesus, Head, Hist. Num.
34:160 On the Essenes cf. Paus. 8. 13, 1, where their rule of life is compared to that of the servitors of Artemis Hymnia at Orchomenus in Arcadia. The Talmud mentions a sect called Essenes, noted for their asceticism.
34:161 Plut. An Sen. sit ger. Resp. p. 795D. The words are Μελλιέρη, Ἱέρη, Παριέρη.
34:162 The word Megabyzus occurs frequently in Herodotus as a proper name among the Persians. Herod. 3. 70, 81, 82, 153, 160; 4. 43; 7. 82, 121. This is probably the basis of Farnell's statement (op. cit. 2. p. 481), that the use of the word at Ephesus points to Persian influence, which, according to Plutarch (Lys. 3) was strong here. Cf. Fairbanks, Greek Religion, App. 1. Strabo, p. 641.
34:163 Paus. 7. 2, 7-8.
35:164 Apart from the baetyl of Pessinus Cybele was regularly conceived as a beautiful matron. Cf. statue in Metroüm at Athens. For references v. supra, n. .
35:165 Artem. Oneirocr. 2. 35.
35:166 Paus. 7. 2, 8.
35:167 Herod. 1. 171. The theory stated here is certainly that which Herodotus himself holds. He says that it was the Cretans' story that the Carians claimed to be autochthonous. Their tradition emphasised their kinship with the Lydians and Mysians.
35:168 Herod. 1. 173.
35:169 Paus, 7. 3, 7.
35:170 The older name of Pamphylia was Mopsopia. Cf. stories of Mopsus, son of Cretan Rhacius, Paus. 7. 3, 2. Cf. Mela, 1; Plin. 5. 26.
36:171 On the yearly feast of Artemis Pergaea and her mendicant priests, suggestive of those of Cybele, v. Parnell, op. cit. 2. p. 482.
36:172 C. I. G. 6797.
36:173 Soph. Oed. R. 204-208.
36:174 Paus. 2. 31, 4-5.
36:175 Ovid, Fasti, 3. 513.
36:176 Cicero (Verr. 4. 48) uses Libera as the name of Proserpine. This doubtless is due to the close relation between Demeter and Dionysus.
37:177 In addition to the passages already cited (Paus. 7. 2, 7-8; Tac. Ann. 3. 61) v. Plut. Quaest. Gr. 56. The story of Dionysus and the Amazons appears also in art. Cf. Arch. Ztg. 1845, pl. 30, showing sarcophagus from Cortona.
37:178 Paus. 8. 23, 1. The chief temples of the place as described by Pausanias were of Artemis Ephesia, of Athena Alea, or Hippia (cf. Paus. 8. 47, 1), of Dionysus. Possibly the flagellation of women in the Dionysiac mysteries is represented on some frescoes recently discovered in a Roman mansion near Pompeii (Nation, Dec. 1, 1910, p. 534). V. Am. Jour. Arch. 15 (1911), p. 567.
37:179 Parnell believes that Ariadne was originally a Cretan goddess, who may easily have been identified with Cybele, Bendis, etc. (op. cit. 2. p. 473). Possibly the legend of Dionysus and Ariadne grew out of the Cretan cult in which he was her paredros.
37:180 Aristot. Polit. 8. 7, 9; Eur. Bacch. 58.
37:181 Herod. 4. 79; Athenaeus, 10. p. 445.
37:182 Eur. Bacch. 821 ff.
37:183 Aristid. Or. 4. p. 28; Aeschyl. Fr. Edoni ap. Aristoph. Thesm. 135.
37:184 Apollod. 3. 5, 1.
38:185 Cf. Atys as notha mulier, Catull. Atys, 27; Adonis, male and female, Orph. Hymn, 56.
38:186 Plut. Thes. 23. On the rites of Ariadne-Aphrodite at Amathus v. Farnell, op. cit. 2. p. 634. Possibly some connection with Dionysus is implied in the strange epithet of Ephesian Artemis, Ἐλουσία, Hesych. s.v.
38:187 Paus. l. c. (7. 2, 7-8); Tac. l. c. (3. 61).
38:188 Ovid, Fasti, 2. 305 ff.; Apollod. 1. 9; 2. 7; Diod. Sic. 4; Prop. 3. 11, 17.
38:189 V. supra, n. .
38:190 The battle-axe receives special mention. Cf. double-axe of the Amazons.
39:191 In a work now out of date (the Lydiaca of Th. Mencke, Berlin, 1843) there is valuable information on this subject. V. especially ch. 8. p. 22.
39:192 The words of Tacitus (l. c.) representing the tradition at Ephesus itself, are very important: "Auctam hinc concessu Herculis, cum Lydia poteretur, caerimoniam templo." Heraclides Ponticus (Fr. 34), supposing 'Ἕφεσος and ἐφεῖναι to be etymologically akin, derives the name of the city from the attack which Heracles made on the Amazons from Mycale to Pitane.