Editing Mount Lykaion (section)

===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>