Editing Mount Lykaion (section)

==In the literary record==

Mt. Lykaion, its religious significance, and its quadrennial athletic games appear with some frequency in the ancient literary sources. The 2nd-century Greek geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] provides the greatest amount of information in the eighth book of his ''Description of Greece'', where he discusses Lykaion's mythological, historical, and physical characteristics in detail. More isolated references occur, however, in sources ranging from [[Plato]]<ref>Plato, ''Republic'' 565d-e</ref> to [[Virgil]].<ref>e.g. Virgil, ''Eclogues'' 10.14–15; ''Georgics'' 3.1–2, 314–17</ref>

===Legendary period===

Pausanias states that the [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]]ns claimed [[Cretea]] atop Mt. Lykaion as the birthplace of Zeus,<ref>Pausanias 8.36.3, 8.38.2</ref> although tradition had handed down at least two other locations for Zeus’ birth.<ref>cf. Cicero, ''De Natura Deorum'' 3.53</ref>

[[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]], son of [[Pelasgus]], the mythical founder of the Greek race, is said to have instituted the worship of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion, giving the god the epithet Lykaios and establishing games in his honor.<ref name="Pausanias 8.2.1">Pausanias 8.2.1</ref> The ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'', a Roman-era mythological compendium, adds the story that Lycaon attempted to test Zeus’ omniscience by tricking him into eating a sacrifice mixed with human flesh. In punishment, Zeus slew Lycaon and his fifty sons.<ref>Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 3.8.1</ref> Other sources, including the Roman poet [[Ovid]], claim instead that Lycaon's punishment was transformation into a wolf, an early example of [[lycanthropy]].<ref>Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'', 1.163ff.</ref>

===Historical events===

According to Pausanias and the Greek historian [[Polybius]], an inscribed pillar (''[[stele]]'') was erected near the altar of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion during the [[Second Messenian War]], a revolt against the [[Sparta]]ns.<ref>Pausanias 4.22.7, Polybius 4.33.2–6</ref> The inscription supposedly commemorated the execution of Aristocrates of Arcadia, who had betrayed the Messenian hero [[Aristomenes]] at the battle of the Great Trench.<ref>Paul Anthony Cartledge " Aristomenes (1)" The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Ed. Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 17 February 2011 [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t111.e760]</ref>

[[Thucydides]], a Greek historian of the [[Peloponnesian War]], writes that the Spartan king [[Pleistoanax]] lived on Mt. Lykaion while in exile from the mid-440s BC until 427, where he built a house straddling the sacred region (''[[temenos]]'') of Zeus to avoid further persecution.<ref>Thucydides 5.16.3</ref>

In his ''Stratagems'', the 2nd-century [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian]] rhetorician [[Polyaenus]] describes a battle between the Spartans and [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius of Macedon]] in 294 BC. Mt. Lykaion extended between the camps of the two sides, causing some consternation among the Macedonians due to their unfamiliarity with the terrain. Nevertheless, Demetrius’ forces won the battle with relative ease.<ref>Polyaenus 4.7.9</ref>

Polybius and [[Plutarch]], a Greek author writing under the Roman empire, cite a battle at Mt. Lykaion in 227 BC between the [[Achaean League]] under [[Aratus of Sicyon|Aratus]] and the Spartans under [[Cleomenes III]]. Although the details are vague, both authors make it clear that the Achaeans were defeated and that Aratus was believed (mistakenly) to have been killed.<ref>Polybius 2.51.3, 2.55.2; Plutarch, ''Life of Cleomenes'' 5.1, ''Life of Aratus'' 36.1</ref>

===Religious worship===

====Pan====

Mt. Lykaion was an important site of religious worship in ancient Greece. Pausanias describes a sanctuary of [[Pan (god)|Pan]] surrounded by a grove of trees. At the sanctuary were bases of statues, which by Pausanias’ time had been deprived of the statues themselves, as well as a [[hippodrome]], where the athletic games had once been held.<ref>Pausanias 8.38.5</ref> References to Lykaian Pan are especially abundant in Latin poetry, as for instance in Virgil's epic, the ''[[Aeneid]]'': “''Lupercal / Parrhasio dictum Panos de more Lycaei'',” “...the [[Lupercal]], named after the [[Parrhasia (Arcadia)|Parrhasian]] worship of Lykaian Pan,”<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 8.343-4</ref> and in [[Odes (Horace)|Horace's Odes]]: “''Velox amoenum saepe Lucretilem / mutat Lycaeo Faunus'',” “Often swift Faunus [Pan] exchanges Lykaion for pleasant [[Lucretilis Mons|Lucretilis]].”<ref>Horace, ''Odes'' 1.17.1–2</ref>

====Zeus Lykaios====

Pausanias records the presence of a mound of earth on the highest point of the mountain, an altar to Zeus Lykaios. He describes two pillars near the altar which had once been topped by golden eagles. Although Pausanias alludes to secret sacrifices which took place on this altar, he explains that he was reluctant to inquire into these rites due to their extreme antiquity.<ref name="Pausanias 8.38.7">Pausanias 8.38.7</ref> Pausanias also discusses the ''temenos'' of Zeus, a sacred precinct which humans were forbidden to enter. He notes the common belief that any person entering the ''temenos'' would die within a year, along with the legend that all creatures, human and animal alike, cast no shadow while inside the sacred area.<ref>Pausanias 8.38.6</ref>

====Games====

The athletic competitions at Lykaion, held every four years, receive occasional mention in the literary record. Authors are in disagreement as to when exactly the games were first instituted: Aristotle is said to have ranked the Lykaion games fourth in order of institution after the [[Eleusina|Eleusinia]], the [[Panathenaic Games|Panathenaia]], and the [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argive]] games,<ref>Aristotle apud schol. Aristid. p. 105</ref> while Pausanias argues for the Lykaian competition's priority to the Panathenaia.<ref name="Pausanias 8.2.1"/> [[Pliny the Elder]], an imperial Roman [[polymath]], states that the games at Lykaion were the first to introduce [[gymnastic]] competition.<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''Natural History'' 7.205</ref> The ancient Greek lyric poet [[Pindar]] records the victories of several athletes in his ''Victory Odes'',<ref>Pindar, ''Ol.'' 7.80ff., 9.95ff., 13.105ff., ''Nem.'' 10.45ff.</ref> and two inscribed ''stelae'' recently excavated from the Lykaian hippodrome provide information about the events, participants, and winners at the games.<ref>[http://www.attalus.org/docs/sig1/s314.html Syll.<sup>3</sup> 314 (English translation)]</ref>