Neoptolemos at Delphi
1997; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês
10.4000/kernos.655
ISSN2034-7871
Autores Tópico(s)Classical Antiquity Studies
ResumoNeoptolemos at Delphi 1 1.The status of Delphi as a political and civic entity was a very particular one z .Born as an ordinary village with a small shrine, it developed, very soon after its foundation 3 , into a special complex, conditioned (and ruled) by the neighbouring (or most powerfu1) states and their interests, and with a majority of population working as servants for the sanctuary.But Delphi was also a community that had its own social and civic organization, a calendar and festivals.The consequence was that Delphi was always between opposite poles: the local traditions and its panhellenic role.The old institution of the phratria, based on kinship bonds, held a strong validity along the centuries, while, as a matter of fact, the private and public life of the Delphians was deeply linked to the history and activity of the sanctuary.Therefore, there was a reciprocal influence between the local and the general trends.An interesting example of this interrelation is the myth and cult complex of the hero Neoptolemos.Ir is my purpose then to analyse it in the following pages in order to enhance these combination of general cultic and ritual features with other more particular and 'typical' Delphic. The myth and the cult: a Îtrst approachThe fact that the hero Pyrrhos-Neoptolemos had been buried at Delphi undoubtly needed sorne explanation.There were sorne different versions that accounted for the presence of Neoptolemos at Delphi, his violent death and the existence of a tornb of the hero.The most thorough analysis of this myth being This article has been made under the general frame of the Research-Programm PB94-1109 of the spanish DGICYT (Ministerio de Educaci6n y Cultura). 2On the particular status of Delphi see M.
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