Artemis’ Love and Care for Youths and Children. The Iconography of Artemis on Two Votive Reliefs of the Fourth Century BC from Tegea

Abstract

Abstract This article looks at two reliefs that depict Artemis, in one case with a hero and in the other with two important gods. It is interesting to point out that both reliefs were found by chance at the beginning and the middle of the twentieth century near the modern village of Alea at Tegea. The first embedded in a wall of a Roman house and the other during excavations near the sanctuary of Athena and therefore it does not have the proper context of the relief’s original settings. The reliefs, both unique for their depictions, are two of the few examples from the Peloponnesian iconography of Artemis and reflect different local aspects of the goddess, who was regarded as a protector of the younger citizens and – together with Herakles and Dionysos – one of the main characters in one of Tegea’s most important heroic ancestors, Telephos. Most likely dating from the fourth century BC, they offer some new and essential information on the goddess’ iconography and her meaning both as a protector of future hoplites and as a ‘surrogate mother’, through her doe, during Telephos’ infancy, in a famous Peloponnesian city.