LYKOSOURA
Arkadia, Greece.
The ruins are
7 km W of Megalopolis. The only source for the city
is Pausanias' reference (8.37-38) to the Sanctuary of
Despoina, a very ancient Chthonic divinity identified with
Persephone-Kore, whose date was confirmed by excavations undertaken in 1889 and later. To the E and to the
N foundations of a Doric portico have been found, before which, from E to W are arranged three altars consecrated to Demeter, Despoina, and the Great Mother.
The temple was 15 m from the altar farthest to the W,
and was perhaps constructed in the 4th c. B.C. It is a
Doric prostyle temple, with a hexadic facade of marble,
on three steps, oriented to the E. Recognizable are a
pronaos and a cella, the major part of which was occupied by a pedestal which supported a group of cult
statues in marble. These were the work of Damophon
of Messene, active around the middle of the 2d c. B.C.
They represented Demeter, Despoina, Artemis, and Anytos. During the excavation many fragments of sculpture
recognizable as belonging to the group were found,
which permitted its reconstruction after a coin of Megalopolis. Despoina and her mother Demeter were seated,
while Artemis and Anytos were standing. The remains
of the group are in the National Museum at Athens. One
exited from the temple to the outside through a lateral
door in the S wall. In the cella are the remains of a
mosaic, and before the temple there are two bases for
bronze statues. Several tiles with the inscription “Depoinas” have come from the excavation, and date between 74 and 66 B.C. To the S of the pronaos several
bases for offerings have been found, while the N part
of the temple has been under discussion, even to the
foundations. The temple dates, according to the latest
interpretation, to the 2d c. B.C. On the N side in a spot
called “megaron” by Pausanias, the remains of a large
monumental altar have been found. The ancient city
was located at the head of the plain of Terzi, to the W
of the sanctuary. There the city walls have been identified, dating from the 5th-4th c. B.C., and the foundation
of a temple has been found under a Byzantine chapel.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
B. Kavvadias,
Ἀρχ. Δελτίον (1889)
122, 153, 170, 202, 225; (1890) 87ff, 99, 113; id.,
Fouilles de Lycosoura (1893); B. Leonardos,
Ἀναδκαφαὶ τοῖ ἐν Λικοσούρα ἰεροῦ τῆς Δεσταινας Πρακτικα, 1895, 1896,
1897, 1898, 1903, 1906, 1907; J. Dickins, Damophon
of Messene,
BSA XI (1905-6); Ch. Tallon, “The Date
of Damophon of Messene,”
AJA 10 (1906) 302ff; K.
Kouroniotis,
Κατάλογος τοῦ Μουσείου λυκοσούρας, Βιβλιοθήκη Αρχαιολογικῆς Ἐταιρείας (1911); Meyer, in Pauly-Wissowa XIII (1926) 2417-32; W. B. Dinsinoor,
The
Architecture of Ancient Greece (1950) 287; M. Bieber,
The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age (1955) 158; P. W.
Lehmann, “The Technique of the Mosaic at Lykosoura,” in Lehmann,
Essays, 190-97; E. Lévy, “Sondages
a Lykosoura et date de Damophon,”
BCH 91 (1967)
518ff.
G. BERMOND MONTANARI