Editing Peitho (section)

=== 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" />