A lecture sponsored by the Columbus Society of the Archaeological Institute of America
“Poseidon in the Saronic Gulf: Seascapes and Regional Cult in a Maritime Community”
Shannon Dunn (Bryn Mawr)
Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. in Knowlton Hall 250
DETAILS
This talk explores the three main sanctuaries of Poseidon around the Saronic Gulf: Sounion, Isthmia, and Kalaureia, and their relationships to the communities of the Gulf. Coastal temples served as religious spaces, navigational aids, and markers of political and cultural territories. Temples of Poseidon are often found in these coastal locations, on high places such as hills or promontories, outside the city walls at territorial edges, and situated along major routes of travel. By considering issues of visual connectivity, approachability, manipulation of the landscape, and distances from roads and harbors, we will observe not only specific and local relationships between Poseidon, his sanctuaries, and the landscape, but also some Saronic trends, including the role of Athens.