In ancient Greek religion, Hegemone (, from the feminine form of )[LSJ, s.vv. ἡγεμόν-η, ἡγεμών.] was, according to the geographer Pausanias, the name given to one of the two Charites at Athens (the other being Auxo).[ Schachter, s.v. Charites; Heinze, s.v. Horae; Pausanias, 9.35.2. Pausanias' statement here has been the object of what Habicht, p. 88, has described as a lively academic dispute ("lebhafter Wissenschaftlicher Streit"). For a discussion of this dispute involving the number and names of the Charites at Athens, see Habicht, pp. 87–90, who concludes, p. 89, that, in support of Pausanias' statement, there seems to be considerable evidence that originally there were only two Attic Charites whose names were Auxo and Hegemone ("Viel scheint dafür zu sprechen, daß ursprünglich Auxo und Hegemone die attischen Chariten waren").] Hegemone, as the name of a Charis, can be understood to mean "she who leads" in the sense of "brings the plants forth from the earth".[Hard, p. 208.] Hegemone, along with Auxo, and several other deities including Ares, and Zeus, was invoked as witness to the civic oath sworn by the ephebes of Athens.[Schachter, s.v. Ares; Smith, s.v. Hegemone; Lycurgus, Against Leocrates 77; Julius Pollux, 8.106.]
Hegemone was also an epithet of the goddesses Artemis and Aphrodite.[LSJ, s.v. ἡγεμόν-η; Hesychius, s.v. Ἡγεμόνη.] As applied to Artemis, the name Hegemone is variously translated as "Leader",[See W.H.S. Jones, and H.A. Ormerod's translation of Pausanias, 3.14.6, 8.37.1.] "Queen",[See Francis Celoria's translation of Antonius Liberalis, 4; LSJ, s.v. ἡγεμόν-η.] or "Guide".[See A. W. Mair and G. R. Mair's translation of Callimachus, Hymns 3.225–227.] Pausanias reports that Artemis Hegemone had a temple at Lycosura in Arcadia, and a sanctuary at Sparta.[Smith, s.v. Hegemone; Lafond, s.v. Lycosura; Pausanias, 3.14.6, 8.37.1.] The third-century BC poet Callimachus seems to have applied the epithet to Artemis as the guide of the colonists who founded Miletus.[ The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, s.v. ἡγεμόνη; LSJ, s.v. ἡγεμόν-η; Farnell vol. 2, p. 462; Callimachus, Hymns 3.225–227.] Inscriptions attest the presence of a cult of Aphrodite Hegemone, at Rhamnous.[Lohmann, s.v. Rhamnus.]
Notes
-
Callimachus, Musaeus, Aetia, Iambi, Hecale and Other Fragments, Hero and Leander, edited and translated by C. A. Trypanis, T. Gelzer, Cedric H. Whitman, Loeb Classical Library No. 421, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1973. . Online version at Harvard University Press.
-
Celoria, Francis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with a Commentary, Routledge 1992. . Online version at ToposText.
-
Habicht, Christian, Studien zur Geschichte Athens in hellenistischer Zeit, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982. . Internet Archive.
-
Hard, Robin (2004), The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, . Google Books.
-
Heinze, Theodor, s.v. Horae, in Brill’s New Pauly Online, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006.
-
Hesychius of Alexandria, Hesychii Alexandrini lexicon, Moritz Schmidt (ed.), Jenae, Sumptibus Hermanni Dufftii (Libraria Maukiana), 1867. Internet Archive
-
Lafond, Yves, s.v. Lycosura, in Brill’s New Pauly Online, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006.
-
Lohmann, Hans, s.v. Rhamnus, in Brill’s New Pauly Online, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006.
-
Lycurgus, Against Leocrates, in Minor Attic Orators, Volume II: Lycurgus. Dinarchus. Demades. Hyperides. Translated by J. O. Burtt. Loeb Classical Library No. 395. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1954. . Online version at Harvard University Press.
-
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, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
-
Schachter, Albert, s.vv. Ares, Charites, in Brill’s New Pauly Online, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006.
