Editing Aphaia (section)

== Cult and worship ==
She originated as early as the 14th century BCE as a local deity associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle.<ref>Pilafidis-Williams argues that the character and relative proportions of the finds leads to the conclusion that the deity worshiped was a female fertility/agricultural goddess and dates her cult to the 14th century BCE.  The cult certainly was in operation in the 7th century BCE.</ref> Under the later Athenian [[hegemony]] she came to be identified with the goddesses [[Athena]] and [[Artemis]] and with the nymph [[Britomartis]] as well, by the 2nd century CE, the time of [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]:
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On ''Aegina'' as one goes toward the mountain of Zeus, god of all the Hellenes, the sanctuary of ''Aphaia'' comes up, for whom [[Pindar]] composed an ode at the behest of the Aeginetans. The Cretans say (the myths about her are native to Crete) that [[Euboulos]] was the son of [[Carmanor (of Crete)|Kharmanor]], who purified [[Apollo]] of the killing of the Python, and they say that Britomartis was the daughter of Zeus and Kharme (the daughter of this Euboulos). She enjoyed races and hunts and was particularly dear to Artemis. While fleeing from [[Minos]], who lusted after her, she cast herself into nets cast for a catch of fish. [[Artemis]] made her a goddess, and not only the Cretans but also the Aeginetans revere her. The Aeginetans say that Britomartis showed herself to them on their island. Her epithet among the Aeginetans is ''Aphaia'', and it is ''Diktynna of the Nets'' on Crete.
[[Description of Greece]] 2.30.3
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The remains of the Late Archaic period [[Temple of Aphaia]] are located within a sanctuary complex on a 160 meter peak at the northeastern end of the island: 37°45'14.82"N, 23°32'0.24"E. The extant temple was built at around 500 BCE on the site of an earlier temple that had burned around 510 BCE.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

An inscribed potsherd of the 5th century BCE found in the precinct of the Temple of [[Apollo]] at [[Bassae]] in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]] is inscribed with what may be a dedication to Aphaia. If so, it would be the first known inscribed dedication to this goddess outside Aegina.<ref>Cooper accepts the identification with Aphaia, although the inscription simply reads ΑΦΑΙ, and he draws out certain parallels between the two sanctuaries.</ref>