The first volume of the Mt. Lykaion Studies series introduces readers to the famous Arkadian sanctuaries of Zeus and Pan at Mt. Lykaion, a site renowned in antiquity as the birthplace of Zeus. First excavated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Archaeological Society of Athens, the site has been the focus of renewed interest since 2004 under the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project, a Greek-American synergasia. This volume offers an overview of the historical and contemporary campaigns, illustrating the site’s immense importance from antiquity to the present through its archaeological, literary, and epigraphic evidence. A comprehensive geological study of Mt. Lykaion and the surrounding region reveals the impact of this dramatic environment on the site’s development, a sacred landscape that continues to shape the activities and attitudes of residents and visitors today. The breadth of perspectives collected in this volume’s nine chapters vividly illustrate the mythological and historical significance of the Mt. Lykaion sanctuaries for Arkadians past and present.
David Gilman Romano is the Nicholas and Athena Karabots Professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Arizona. Mary E. Voyatzis is Professor Emerita of Anthropology and Classics at the University of Arizona. Romano and Voyatzis codirect the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project.
ContentsList of IllustrationsList of TablesBibliography and Abbreviations1. Topography of the Region and Introduction to the Sanctuaries of Zeus and Pan, by David Gilman Romano and Mary E. Voyatzis2. The Greek Excavations, 1897–1909, by Michalis Petropoulos3. Geology and Geoarchaeology of the Sanctuary of Zeus, by George H. Davis4. Commentary on the Literary Sources, by Madeleine Jost5. The Epigraphic Record, by Kyle W. Mahoney6. Topography and History of the Western Megalopolitike: The Parrhasians’ Ethnos and Chora, by Yanis Pikoulas7. Social and Economic History of the Megalopolitan Region, 500 BCE to the 2nd Century CE, by James Roy8. Ancient Arkadia and Its Sacred Places, by Anna Vasiliki Karapanagiotou9. Mt. Lykaion: Beyond Myths, by Nota Pantzou and Stelios LekakisGeneral IndexIndex of Ancient Sources