In Search of the Dioskouroi. Image, Myth and Cult

Sarah V. Graham (née Fraenkel) holds a Master’s degree and a Doctorate in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford, where she studied Ancient Greek vase-painting with Professor Donna Kurtz. Her first degree was in Modern History from the University of Edinburgh. She also undertook postgraduate research at Oxford in eighteenth-century French history under the late Professor Richard Cobb before embarking on a career in Government, including a spell as a Director in the then Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit at No.10. Subsequently she was the founding Chair of a social enterprise employing people who had been in prison. She has been drawn afresh to academic study by a love of Greece, ancient and modern. She currently lives and works in Oxford, where she is an associate member of Wolfson College and co-directed its Ancient World Research Cluster.

• Foreword Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Starting out: the research and its aimsIntroducing Kastor and Polydeukes, the Greek DioskouroiDesigning the studyMethodologyThe context of past scholarship Chapter 2. First steps on the journey: searching for the Dioskouroi in Greece from the time of HomerWho were the Dioskouroi?Sources for myths of the Dioskouroi: literature, vases, and temple decorationImages of the Dioskouroi from GreeceBuildings and sacred spaceSumming up Chapter 3. The Dioskouroi at home: in the PeloponneseAn introductory tour SpartaThe literary evidence for cultPausanias at SpartaThe archaeological evidence for sacred space at SpartaVotive reliefs and inscriptionsCharacteristics of the Dioskouroi at Sparta MesseneThe archaeological and literary contextSources for history and cult at Messene before Epaminondas: interpreting PausaniasA Messenian mythography of the DioskouroiThe archaeological evidence for cult of the DioskouroiSanctuary Ω–Ω and the Dioskouroi ArgosThe literary recordThe equestrian images of the Dioskouroi at ArgosThe archaeological evidenceCult of the Fanakes and the Dioskouroi at ArgosThe cavalier reliefCult of the Dioskouroi at Argos and in the Argolid Chapter 4. The Dioskouroi abroad: some early appearances in the eastern MediterraneanAn introduction TheraKyreneThe literary evidence for cult of the DioskouroiThe archaeological evidence for a sanctuary of the Dioskouroi at KyreneA Dioskourion at Kyrene?The Dioskouroi, Dioskoureia and diningKyrene, Sparta and TheraThe provenance of cults of the Dioskouroi at Kyrene NaukratisCult of the Dioskouroi at Naukratis: gathering the evidenceThe pottery findsA temple of the Dioskouroi?Interpreting the findsSumming up Thasos DelosOverviewThe evidence for cult The evidence for a DioskourionAdditional material evidence for cult of the Dioskouroi on DelosCult of the Dioskouroi on DelosThe evidence from Delos in the wider context Chapter 5. Journey’s endDrawing together the threadsSumming up: reflections on the journey Bibliography Index

'All in all, Graham’s Periegesis is a significant contribution to Classical Archaeology and religious studies. Her meticulous approaches shed fresh light on the worship of “perhaps the most complex among the Greek gods,” opening new paths for exploration. Accompanied by 90, mostly color, images, three maps, and a carefully organized index, this work meets a felt need both for scholars and the general reader.' — Aeneas Kapouranis (2025): Bryn Mawr Classical Review