Editing Peitho (section)

== Cult and function ==
Cults dedicated to Peitho date to at least the early 5th century.<ref name=":9" /> In her role as an attendant or companion of Aphrodite, Peitho was intimately connected to the goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite and Peitho were sometimes conflated, more commonly in the later periods, with the name Peitho appearing in conjunction with or as an [[epithet]] of Aphrodite's name.<ref name=":1" /> She is also identified with [[Tyche]] in ''Suppliant Women (Hiketides).''<ref>[[Aeschylus]], ''Suppliant Women (Hiketides),'' Line 523.</ref> Peitho was associated with [[Marriage in ancient Greece|marriage]], since a suitor or his father would negotiate with the father or guardian of a young woman for her hand in marriage and offer a bridal price in return for her. The most desirable women drew many prospective suitors, and persuasive skill often determined the suitor's success. [[Plutarch]] includes her on a list of five deities for new couples to pray to, also included are Zeus (Teleios), [[Hera]] (Teleia), Aphrodite, and [[Artemis]].<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''[[Moralia|Moralia (Ethika)]]'', Line 264b.</ref>[[File:Fragment of a marble neo-Attic relief with Peitho MET DP261241.jpg|thumb|350x350px|A Roman relief depicting Peitho, circa 1st century B.C.E. ([[Metropolitan Museum of Art|The Metropolitan Museum of Art]]).]]Peitho was an important figure for emphasising civic harmony, particularly in [[Athens]] and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], and harmony within interpersonal relationships.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Worshipping Aphrodite: Art and Cult in Classical Athens|last=Rosenzweig|first=Rachel|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0472113323|location=Ann Arbor|pages=13–26}}</ref> Notably in Athens, the unification ([[Synoecism|synoikismos]]) of the city by [[Theseus]] was only possible with the intervention of both Aphrodite and Peitho to create democratic spirit and cooperation.<ref name=":3" /> In Argos, she was paired with the early kings of the city, functioning as a civic unifier in a similar role as [[Harmonia]], the first Queen of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Buxton|first=Richard|url=https://archive.org/details/persuasioningree00rgab/page/29|title=Persuasion in Greek Tragedy: A Study of Peitho|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780521136730|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|pages=[https://archive.org/details/persuasioningree00rgab/page/29 29–37]|url-access=registration}}</ref> On a 4th century vase from [[Apulia]], Peitho and Hermes are depicted together instructing [[Triptolemus|Tripolemus]] to teach agriculture to mankind, indicating Peitho's role in creating harmony through civilization.<ref name=":7" /> Plutarch outlines Peitho’s role in interpersonal harmony in ''[[Moralia]]'', where he states that persuasion’s role within a marriage is so that spouses can achieve their wants without quarreling. In ''[[Oresteia|Eumenides]]'', Athena thanks Peitho after convincing the [[Erinyes|Furies]] of her reasoning in acquitting [[Orestes]] and successfully defusing strife.<ref>[[Aeschylus]], ''Eumenides'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0006:card=823&highlight=persuasion 825-829]</ref> However, Peitho may be a destructive force when used for seduction or selfish personal gains, such as in ''[[Oresteia|Agamemnon]]'' where [[Clytemnestra]] curses Peitho for Paris’s stealing of Helen, and she uses persuasion to convince [[Cassandra]] to enter the house in order to murder her.

=== Cult within Athens ===
[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] reports that after the unification ([[Synoecism|synoikismos]]) of [[Athens]], Theseus set up a cult of [[Aphrodite Pandemos]] and Peitho on the south slope of [[Acropolis of Athens]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D22%3Asection%3D3 1.22.3].</ref> In recognition of this myth, both goddesses were worshipped in the [[Attica (region)|Attic]] [[Aphrodisia|Aphrodisia Festival]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Brill's Companion to Aphrodite|last=Pala|first=Elisabetta|publisher=Brill|year=2010|location=Leiden|pages=195–216|chapter=Aphrodite on the Akropolis: Evidence from Attic Pottery}}</ref> Peitho was worshipped independently as the goddess of both sexual and rhetorical persuasion in Athens from the 4th century into the [[Roman Empire|Roman Imperial era]], the time of [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]’s writing.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> However, some scholars believe it is possible that worship dates to the 6th century, but there is not strong evidence for this assertion.<ref name=":5" /> A votive inscription to Peitho was found at the site of the Temple of Aphrodite, reinforcing the link between these goddesses at Athens.<ref name=":4" /> The [[Theatre of Dionysus]] had seat reserved for the priestess of Peitho.<ref name=":1" /> Peitho was an important figure to Athenian [[rhetoric]]ians in 5th century and was considered an important figure for human affairs, as persuasion was a major component to rhetoric. Rhetorician [[Isocrates]] notes in Section 249 of ''[[Antidosis]]'' that sacrifices are made to Peitho in the city annually.<ref name=":2" /> Furthermore, comic poet [[Eupolis]] said that Peitho sat on the lips of [[Pericles]] for his persuasive skills.<ref name=":7" /> Persuasion was considered essential for the democratic state's success.<ref name=":6" />

=== Cults within other Greek cities ===
Despite her connection to Aphrodite in Athens, Peitho was more commonly associated with Artemis in the [[Peloponnese]], as the two goddesses either shared a temple at [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] or "Peitho" being used as an epithet for Artemis.<ref name=":3" /> Peitho’s association with Artemis may have formed due to a shared with importance with adult development and the loss of sexual innocence.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Burnett Pippin|first=Anne|date=2011|title=Servants of Peitho: Pindar fr. 122|journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies|volume=51|pages=49–60}}</ref> At Argos, this temple was also shared with [[Hypermnestra|Hypermestra]], who was acquitted in trial of a case brought by her father, as she was the only [[Danaïdes|Danaid]] who did not murder her husband on her wedding night as per her father's orders.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":9" /> With this association, Peitho is connected to persuasive speech generally as opposed to just seductive persuasion.<ref name=":4" />

[[Pindar]] refers to [[Prostitution in ancient Greece|courtesans and prostitutes]] in [[Corinth]] as "the servants of Peitho", however, he does not elaborate on whether there was any cults associated with Peitho in the city nor whether courtesans had a particular reverence for the goddess.<ref>[[Pindar]], Eulogies Fragment 122.</ref> This passage has stirred debate among scholars one whether sacred prostitution was practiced in Greece.<ref name=":8" /> Peitho was commonly shown wearing jewelry, fixing her clothing, holding jars of perfume, or looking into mirrors, traits that may be associated with [[hetaira]]i.<ref name=":8" />

In [[Sicyon]], Peitho had a cult and a temple, which was connected to the cults of Artemis and [[Apollo]].<ref name=":9" /> According to a local cult practice recorded by Pausanias, during the festival of Apollo, seven boys and girls take the statues of Artemis and Apollo to the Sythas River and take them to the sanctuary of Peitho, after which they are returned to the Temple of Apollo.<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=2:chapter=7&highlight=sythas 2.7.8]</ref> The aetiological myth for this practice was that the citizens of Sicyon refused to purify the twin gods after the slaying of [[Python (mythology)|Python]], and as a result a plague was sent to the city. Seven boys and girls went to the river to convince the gods to return, they were successful, indicating that even the gods are susceptible to the power of persuasion, and the sanctuary to Peitho was established at this spot.<ref name=":9" /> There was no cult image to Peitho by the [[Roman Imperial period|Roman Imperial Period]], however, this does mean that one never existed.<ref name=":9" />

According to Pausanias, in addition to the cults and sanctuaries dedicated to Peitho at Athens and Argos, there was an image decorating the throne at the Temple of Zeus at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] where Aphrodite, rising from the sea is greeted by [[Eros]] and crowned by Peitho.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Graeciae Descriptio'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D7%3Asection%3D7 2.7.7], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D21%3Asection%3D1 2.21.1] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D11%3Asection%3D8 5.11.8]</ref><ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D11%3Asection%3D8 5.11.8]</ref> In [[Megara]], statues of Peitho and [[Paregoros]] (personification of soothing words) stood in the Temple of Aphrodite Praxis (of intercourse).<ref name=":8" /> There is also evidence that Peitho had cults in [[Paros]], [[Thasos]], and [[Lesbos]].<ref name=":1" />