Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

210 Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks
Pan
Pan, who resembled a goat from the waist down, was in origin
a rustic deity. He was worshiped in caves throughout Attica, the
most prominent of which was situated on the north side of the
Acropolis. The seven-reed syrinx or panpipe was his invention. He
was capable of causing panic both in individuals and in armies. His
cult was officially introduced to Athens after the battle of Marathon
in 490 b.c.e. , in recognition of the assistance he had rendered at the
battle by instilling “panic” in the Persians.
Asklepios
In his capacity as human physician, Asklepios, who was the
son of Apollo and a nymph named Koronis, is first mentioned in
Homer (Iliad 2.731f.). Legend had it that Zeus slew him with a thunderbolt
because he had the presumptuousness to raise the dead to
life. This detail is important because it speaks to a characteristic
Greek caution—the need to respect human limitations no matter
how great one’s skill. Thanks to the priesthood of Apollo, however,
Asklepios came in time to be awarded divine status and began to
attract cult, so that eventually sanctuaries were established to him
all over the eastern Mediterranean. His shrine at Epidauros in the
northeast Peloponnese was the foremost healing sanctuary in the
Greek world.
A number of minor deities were believed to reside in streams,
rivers, and lakes (naiads), on mountains (oreads), and in trees
(dryads).
Although there was a multiplicity of deities to choose from, the
forms of worship were remarkably similar. The main exception was
the ecstatic cults, such as those belonging to Dionysos and the Great
Mother, which provided a context for the abandonment of social
constraints by encouraging the worshiper to “stand outside” of
herself or himself (the literal meaning of the Greek word ekstasis ).
Gods of the Earth
All the deities discussed so far dwelt in the sky, on the earth,
or under water. There was, however, another powerful group of
divine beings who were thought to reside underground. They
are called chthonic deities, after the Greek word chthôn, meaning
earth. Chthonic religion was in many ways the exact antithesis to
Olympian religion. Chthonic deities were worshiped in caves and