Κάστορα θ’ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδευκέα [1]
The twins Kastor and Polydeukes, sons of Leda, the Spartan king Tyndareos and Zeus, brothers of Helen, named in the literary sources before the 5th c. BC as Tyndaridai and, afterwards, mostly known as the Dioskouroi, always hold their unique place in the history of ancient Greek cult and deserve special attention. Unlike their Roman and Etruscan counterparts, widely known as Castor and Pollux and Tinas Cliniar, in Greece their image is characterized by ambivalence and complexity due to their various attributes: sometimes heroes, sometimes demigods or deities, skilled horsemen, champions at games and battles, associated with victory, protectors of youths and travelers in peril (especially mariners), and guardians of gates. In Sparta, their traditional homeland, they are related to the dual kingship, whereas in Athens they are considered as local lords or Anakes. Their names and various attributes appear also in other Greek regions and settlements such as Argos, Messene, Thasos, Thera, Delos, Kyrene, Naukratis, and Taras. The brothers’ history and cult have been studied continuously from the late 19th century and onwards, but mostly either in relation with other deities, such as Apollo and Artemis, or a specific period of their cult and iconography.[2] Sarah V. Graham’s new treatise on the image, myth and cult of the twins, a revised form of her dissertation, attempts for the first time, by collecting as much of the related evidence as possible, to answer the following fundamental question: what is known from the Greeks’ experience of the Dioskouroi before the Romans’ hegemony? (p. 7)
The book is divided into five chapters. Graham begins with Cicero’s statement, who, after his trip to Greece, groups the Dioskouroi with Asklepios and Herakles as the deified human beings worshipped widely and sometimes more than the Olympians.[3] With this in mind she introduces the readers to her approach of the combined literary and archaeological evidence, stressing its patchiness and lack of coherence. In other words, when the texts suggest a cult of the brothers in a particular place, this is not supported by the known archaeological evidence and vice versa. Additionally, it is notable that, although their traditional birthplace in Sparta and their cult in other Peloponnesian cities may lead the researcher to think about a specific sanctuary or building in the Peloponnese, the earliest evidence for architectural places associated with the brothers, dating from the 6th or even the 7th c. BC, comes from settlements outside mainland Greece, such as Naukratis, Kyrene, Sicily, and Pontic Olbia (pp. 9-10). As regards her methodology, the author follows a route which in her own words is “a simple approach of trying to establish what is known from primary evidence at any given time, and what is known from later reports and their contexts” (p. 12).
Moving to the second chapter, Graham takes the first steps of the journey with Homer’s epic as the starting point where the twins show different virtues in taming horses and boxing. As she points out, the term ‘Dioskouroi’ is not easily defined before the 5th c. BC and is used together with ‘Tyndaridai’ after this specific century. Other references are found in the Kypria, influenced by the Homeric poems, and in two Homeric Hymns, providing perhaps the earliest literary reference to the brothers’ names, as Zeus’ sons (p. 24). Their military associations are authenticated from the early 5th c. BC in a poem by Simonides, after Plataia’s battle, in which they are known both as Tyndaridai and skillful with horses (p. 27), whereas their first association with the Pan-Hellenic Games is found in Pindar’s victory odes (p. 29). Apart from these early portrayals in the written records, the twins’ earliest depictions are found in the metopes from the Sikyonians’ Treasury at Delphi, where they depart with the stolen cattle, together with the Apharetidai, and are also shown near Jason’s Argo. Further, they appear on the South Frieze of the Siphnian Treasury and on the François Vase, participating in the Calydonian boar hunt (p. 36), whereas their earliest named depiction is found on a pottery sherd from Perachora (p. 43). As for the types of the available evidence, connected with shrines and buildings of the Dioskouroi, these are divided into three main categories: (a) those where inscriptions or votive pottery suggest an identification with the twins and where there is meagre or no other supporting evidence, (b) those mentioned in the inscriptions or the texts from which some claims could be made in identifying some preserved structures and (c) those that are mentioned only in the texts and/or inscriptions without any material evidence (p. 48).
In the third and largest chapter the author discusses their traditional home, the Peloponnese. She begins with a brief tour stressing the importance of Pausanias’ travelogue which contains the majority of the references related to the Dioskouroi. Apart from Sparta, other sanctuaries are mentioned in Sikyon, Phlius, Olympia and Epidauros. Concerning the last site, a new monograph on the small shrines, surrounding the Asklepieion, that appeared lately, identifies the rectangular structure (Fig. 30 in Graham’s book), conventionally known as “Π”, with the Anakeion; it is probably dated to the 3rd century BC.[4] Returning to Sparta, Graham gathers all the literary sources from Alkman up to Pausanias, mentioning all sites both in the Spartan center and the outskirts and then proceeds with the archaeological data from Therapne, the Menelaion, the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, the not yet firmly located Phoibaion, the Amyklaion and the Eleusinion at Kalyvia Sokhas. Among the finds, the most tangible evidence for the twins’ cult at Sparta and their various attributes are a series of votive reliefs. Carved in local marble and limestone from Taygetos’ slopes, they feature two male figures arranged in symmetrical poses, either alone, facing each other or the viewer, or together with their horses. Some of them bear inscriptions for the Tyndaridai and the Dioskouroi, whereas others depict two identical lidded amphorae or simple structures with horizontal and vertical beams, known as “dokana”. Concerning the amphorae they were probably the prizes offered at Games (p. 83). Another interpretation may rest on the aniconic depiction of the Dioskouroi, receiving prizes from victorious winners. These prizes bear some similarities to the famous Panathenaic amphorae. In addition, their lids may reflect the same shape of the twins’ piloi. As for the “dokana” they can be either the gates of a building, a temple, a throne, or an altar (p. 96-101). According to a previous interpretation they can also be the tables on which various offerings were placed, during the Theoxenia.[5] However, on all reliefs with “dokana” no offering is shown, as happens with other examples, such as the Totenmahl reliefs or the reliefs dedicated to Asklepios and his family.
Moving west to Messene, Graham relies mostly on Pausanias’ description after the city was re-founded by Epameinondas, describing its legendary past. She also refers to Andania, the ancient capital of the area, which, according to inscriptions, can be considered as the “Messenian Eleusis”.[6] The twins may have participated in the Andanian celebrations (p. 117). Among the artefacts found probably inside or near the sanctuary known as “Ω-Ω”, in which the Dioskouroi might have also been worshipped, two reliefs deserve our attention. Regarding the first one (Fig. 56a-c) a new fragment, which was published by the late P. Themelis should be added. Specifically it matches with the Dioskouros on the right showing him seated on a stool.[7] As for the second (Fig. 57), the hemispheric object between the brothers can be interpreted either as a pilos, or the shell from the swan egg from which they were born, according to the mythic tale of the intercourse of Zeus and Leda.
Moving north, at Argos Kastor or the Dioskouroi were the foundation figures of the city, and the author calls attention to Pausanias’ description on statues made of ebony, wood, and ivory (not preserved), dated to the mid-6th c. BC. If this date is correct, then these are among the earliest sculptural images of the brothers with their horses (p. 142). This mention ties well with Argos’ long tradition of horsemanship.[8] Furthermore, the cavalier relief at the Hellenistic theater of the city (p. 155, Fig. 65a-c) adds to the constant presence of the twins there.
In the penultimate chapter Graham moves to the island of Thera, settled by a Spartan, who bore the same name.[9] Among rock carved inscriptions, some dating to the late 8th c. BC, at the Mesa Vouno acropolis, to the SE of the island, lies the oldest inscribed dedication to the twins (p. 158 and Fig. 7). By contrast, the first firm evidence for their cult is dated much later, in the end of the 3rd c. BC, and is a temenos dedicated by an officer of the Ptolemaic army known as Artemidoros from Perge (p. 163). Moving away from mainland Greece and specifically to Kyrene, the author calls attention to the fact that while the surviving literature suggests a special place for Kastor, if not the Dioskouroi, in the religious traditions of the city, possibly from its 7th c. BC foundation, the surviving artefacts that might suggest a specific cult are mainly Roman. As for Naukratis, this city preserves the largest amount of votive pottery to the brothers and probably a temple (p. 183-185). Returning to Greece, the earliest certain record of a public cult, known as Dioskoureia, is found at Thasos, thanks to an inscribed stele at the island’s agora (p. 191). Last but not least, another official cult is found in Delos from the early 3rd c. BC. Extensive records by specially appointed officers, known as “hieropoioi”, show the Athenian, Lakonian, and Macedonian influence on the twins’ cult, during a period between 314 and 167 BC. Here also a structure, known as “GD 123” might have been another Dioskoureion.
Lastly, the author pulls the threads together concluding that the Dioskouroi are liminal figures, both literally and metaphorically, providing protection at physical boundaries, guarding gateways and representing a link between the realm of deities, the world of the mortals and the Underworld (p. 229).
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”[10], 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 general reader. Some small inaccuracies do not alter in the slightest the overall value of the study.
Notes
[1] Hom. Od. 11.300: “Kastor the tamer of horses and the excellent boxer Polydeukes” (reviewer’s translation).
[2] See e.g. H. Dressel – A. Milchhöfer, “Die antiken Kunstwerke aus Sparta und Umgebung,” AM no. 2 (1877), 293-474. M.N. Tod – A. Wace, A Catalogue of the Sparta Museum, Oxford 1906. M.P. Nilsson, The Minoan-Mycenaean religion and its survival in Greek Religion, Lund 1927. F. Chapouthier, Les Dioscures au service d’une déesse, étude d’iconographie religiuese, Paris 1935. LIMC 3 (1986), s.v. Dioskouroi (A. Hermary). M.J. Sanders, “The Early Lakonian Dioskouroi Reliefs” in Φιλολάκων. Lakonian Studies in honour of Hector Catling, edited by J.M. Sanders, 205-210, London 1992. E. Köhne, Die Dioskuren in der griechischen Kunst von der Arkaik bis zum Ende des 5, Jahrhunderts v. Chr, Hamburg 1998. M. Gaiffmann, Aniconism in Greek Antiquity, Oxford 2012. H.J. Walker, The Twin Horse Gods. The Dioskouroi in Mythologies of the Ancient World, London 2015. A. Gartrell, The Cult of Castor and Pollux in Ancient Rome, Cambridge 2021.
[3] Cic. Nat. D. 3.15 (39) and 3.18 (45).
[4] E. Lempidaki, Μικρά Ιερά στο Ασκληπιείο της Επιδαύρου, Athens 2024, 232-233.
[5] M. Pipili, Laconian Iconography of the Sixth Century B.C., Oxford 1987, 56.
[6] L. Gawlinski, “Andania: The Messenian Eleusis,” in Sanctuaries and Cults of Demeter in the Ancient Greek World, edited by I. Leventi and C. Mitsopoulou, Volos 2010, 91-109.
[7] P. Themelis, “Ανασκαφή Μεσσήνης”, Prakt. 176 (2021), 43-50.
[8] Hom. Il. 2. 287, Od. 3. 263.
[9] Hdt. 4.147-149.
[10] Nilsson 1927, 76.