Sosipolis (god)

Part of a series on
Ancient Greek religion
Origins Ancient Greek religion Mycenaean deities Minoan Civilization, Minoan religion Classical Greece Hellenistic Greece, Hellenistic religion
Sacred Places Sacred Islands Delos Ithaca Naxos Kythira Samothrace Crete Lemnos Sacred Mountains Mount Lykaion Mount Ida (Turkey) Mount Ida (Crete) Mount Olympus Mount Kyllini Mount Othrys Sanctuaries Aornum Delphi Didyma Dion Dodona Eleusis Olympia Other Cave of Zeus Troy
Deities Primordial deities Aether Ananke Chaos Chronos Erebus Eros Gaia Hemera Nyx Ourea Phanes Pontus Tartarus Uranus Olympians Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Demeter Dionysus Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Poseidon Zeus Chthonic deities Hades Persephone Angelos Demeter Erinyes Gaia Hecate Iacchus Melinoë Triptolemus Trophonius Lesser deities Alpheus Amphitrite Asclepius Bia Boreas Circe Cybele Deimos Eileithyia Enyo Eos Eris Harmonia Hebe Hecate Helios Heracles Iris Kratos Leto Maia Metis Momus Nemesis Nereus Nike Pan Persephone Phobos Priapus Proteus Rhea Scamander Selene Thanatos Themis Thetis Triton Zelus Zephyrus
Concepts Worldview Greek mythology Orphic Egg Underworld and Afterlife Miasma Daimon Greek Heroic Age Divine and Reality Apeiron Monism Polytheism Pantheism Form of the Good Theory of forms Mind Anamnesis Ataraxia Apatheia Episteme Epoché Katalepsis Logos Nous Phronesis Soul Anima mundi Metempsychosis Henosis Plato's theory of soul Ethics Arete Hubris Xenia Ethic of Reciprocity Delphic maxims Adiaphora Eudaimonia Kathekon Oikeiôsis Mysteries Eleusinian Mysteries Orphism Dionysian Mysteries
Practices Worship Agalma Dithyramb Paean Orgion Hiera Orgas Hero Cult Oracle and Pythia Sacrifices and Offerings Holokaustos Libation Votive offering Animal Sacrifice Temples and holy sites Temple Temenos Meditation and Charity Eusebeia Meditation Euergetism Rites of passage Amphidromia Marriage Funeral Rites Festivals Thesmophoria Dionysia Daphnephoria Anthesteria Arrephoria Kronia Genesia Elaphebolia Pyanopsia Khalkeia Haloa Halieia Thargelia Three Monthly Festivals Deipnon Noumenia Agathodaemon Religious Games Panathenaia Herakleia Panhellenic Games Olympic Games Nemean Games Pythian Games Isthmian Games
Philosophy Pythagoreanism Neopythagoreanism Platonism Middle Platonism Neoplatonism
Philosophers Ancient Hesiod Homer Pherecydes of Syros Pythagoras Xenophanes Parmenides Empedocles Socrates Plato Aratus Plutarch Plotinus Iamblichus Julian (emperor)
Texts Argonautica Bibliotheca Corpus Hermeticum Delphic maxims Derveni papyrus Dionysiaca Epic Cycle Homeric Hymns Iliad Odyssey Orphic Hymns Theogony Works and Days
Other Topics Pilgrimage Sites Calendar Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism Julian restoration Modern Restoration
Religion portal  Ancient Greece portal
v t e

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology Sosipolis (Greek: Σωσίπολις, lit. 'City savior') was a native god at Elis. His mother was the goddess Eileithyia. There was a sanctuary of him inside the sanctuary of Eileithyia at Olympia, Greece.^[1] There was also a shrine dedicated to him on the left of the sanctuary of Tyche in Elis.^[2]

Mythology

According to the legend, which was described by

The sanctuary of Sosipolis was inside the temple of Eileithyia at Olympia.[3] The building had two parts, the front part was public and was dedicated to the Eileithyia, but in the inner part Sosipolis was worshipped and only the priestess who was responsible for the god could enter. Eleans chose an old priestess for the goddess every year. The priestess was also responsible for Sosipolis. She lived in chastity and had to bring water for the god's bath and setting before him barley cakes kneaded with honey. When she entered the part of the Sosipolis, she had to wrap her head and face in a white veil. Maidens and matrons wait in the sanctuary of Eileithyia chanting a hymn; they burned all manner of incense to the god, but it was not the custom to pour libations of wine. Oaths in which he was called upon were very important.^[1]

There was also a shrine dedicated to Sosipolis on the left of the sanctuary of Tyche in Elis. The god was painted as a boy, wrapped in a star-spangled robe and in one hand holding the horn of

Bibliography

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

• SOSIPOLIS on The Theoi Project