Potnia

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This Archaic image known as the Lady of Auxerre may be a version of the Minoan goddess, probably Kore or Despoina (c. 640–630 BCE, Louvre).
This article contains special characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
)

Potnia is an

Karl Kerenyi identifies Kore with the nameless "Mistress of the labyrinth", who probably presided over the palace of Knossos
in Minoan Crete.

Etymology

Potnia (

classical Greek with the same meaning. A related Greek word is despoina ("Des-potnia" from PIE *dems-potnia meaning "mistress of the house").[5] An alternative etymology of the goddess Demeter comes through Potnia and Despoina ("Dems-meter", from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr, meaning "mother of the house").[6]

Potnia is possibly also etymologically related to

Philistine goddess.[7][8]

Origins

The figure of a goddess of nature, of birth and death was dominant during the Bronze Age, in both Minoan and Mycenean cults. In the Mycenean cult she was known by the title Potnia.

Eleusinian cult, where the following words were uttered : "Mighty Potnia has born a strong son".[13]

An inscription from

potnia theron
(the mistress of the animals).

Several tablets in Linear B script found at Knossos and Pylos refer to the potnia. Potnia is almost always accompanied by an epithet characterizing a particular place or function of the mistress : po-ti-ni-ja,a-si-wi-ja (a-si-wi-ja = ethnic adjective, possibly "Asian (Lydian) woman"), si-to-po-ti-ni-ja (sitos = "grain", of wheat or barley; probably referring to Demeter or her predecessor), po-ti-ni-ja,i-qe-ja (Potnia Hippeia, "Horse Goddess"). At Knossos a tablet refers to a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja, "potnia Athana", a form similar to the later Homeric form.[10][16]

This divine title could be the translation of a similar title of Pre-Greek origin, just as the title "Our Lady" in Christianity is translated in several languages.[17] The Pre-Greek name may be related to a-sa-sa-ra , a possible interpretation of some Linear A texts.[18] Although Linear A is not yet deciphered, Palmer relates tentatively the word a-sa-sa-ra-me which seems to have accompanied goddesses, with the Hittite išhaššara, which means "lady or mistress", and especially with išhaššaramis (my lady).[19]

Classical Greece

In classical Greece the title potnia is usually applied to the goddesses

Karl Kerenyi identifies Persephone with the nameless "mistress of the labyrinth". Demeter and Persephone were the two great goddesses of the Arcadian cults. According to Pausanias at Olympia they were called Despoinai ("mistresses", plural of Despoina).[20] Demeter and Persephone were also called "Demeteres" as duplicates of the earth goddess with a double function as chthonic
and vegetation goddesses.

See also

References

  1. ^ Princeton Encyclopedia of classical sites
  2. Perseus Project
    .
  3. ^ πόσις in Liddell and Scott.
  4. ^ J. P. Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006). The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford University Press. pp. 207, 505.
  5. ^ Harper, Douglas. "despot". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  6. ^ Frisk, Griechisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch Entry 1271
  7. ^ David Ben-Shlomo, Philistine Cult and Religion According to Archaeological Evidence, January 2019Religions 10(2):74, DOI: 10.3390/rel10020074
  8. ISSN 0003-097X
    .
  9. ^ a b B.Dietriech (2004):The origins of the Greek religion Bristol Phoenix Press. pp. 181-185
  10. ^ a b G. Mylonas (1965) Mycenae and the Mycenaean age, Princeton University Press, p.159
  11. ^ Dietriech, p.181
  12. ^ Dietrich: pp.109, 141
  13. ^ Dietrich:166-167
  14. ^ Kn Gg 702:da-pu2ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja
  15. ISBN 0-521-08558-6
  16. ISBN 0-521-29037-6
  17. ^ Chadwick: The Mycenean world P.92
  18. ISBN 978-3-406-62210-6
    .
  19. W. Kohlhammer
    , Stuttgart
  20. ^ Pausanias.Description of Greece.[1]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potnia&oldid=1211221121"
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article: Potnia. Articles is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.Privacy Policy