Temenos

Abstract: The preliminary results of recent research are published in this article relating to the cultic area in Pontic Olbia, referred to, for the sake of convenience, as the Southern Temenos . The earliest building period falls into the first quarter of the 5th century BC . The temple was built using mud brick and stone and it had been roofed with tiles from Miletus. Most of the several dozen graffiti found in the bothroi and the cultural layer were dedicated to Aphrodite. A temenos from the second building period was built in the last quarter of the 5th century BC and was in existence until the end of the Classical period. The largest number of dedicatory graffiti was addressed to the main deity, Aphrodite. The temple from the Classical period has a lay-out, which is similar to the temple of Aphrodite in Histria.

Abstract: Two Greek mountains, Helikon and Parnassos, have become synonymous with inspiration and genius in Western tradition. Parnassos, like Delphi, was a famous precinct of Apollo, while Helikon was long associated with the Muses. This paper chronicles the development and ornamentation of a sanctuary of the Muses — a hieron to Strabo (9.2.25: ἱeρόν), a grove to Pausanias (9.29.5; 9.31.3: ἄλσος), and a temenos to Kallistratos (Descrip. 7: τέμeνος) — from the 3rd c. B.C. through the 3rd c. A.D.; I will henceforth refer to it as the Mouseion of Helikon. The same period saw Mt. Helikon, its divine inhabitants, and their favorite haunts become topoi in Alexandrian and Roman poetry and art, with parallels in wall-painting and garden design. Artifacts and literature define a period characterized by change and diverse protagonists. Even as the Mouseion and its sacred art, games, and other rituals were attended by mortals, the mountain and its locales came to symbolize divine inspiration, a tradition that would outlive the sanctuary.

Abstract: THE author deals with the economic significance in ancient India of land, industry, and commerce. The book has importance in classical studies because he puts the commerce between the Greeks and Romans on the one side and India on the other into the general picture of ancient Indian economics, and is up to date with the latest discoveries. On Indian sources he is good, and there are useful hints here and there for classical scholars. He has used a very sound unpublished edition of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea by J. Whiteley. Whereas Adhya's narrative is usually easy to read and mostly free from factual errors, it is unfortunate that his work as a whole was not fully revised and the proofs not carefully read before publication, because the footnotes and the bibliography are marred by many misprints and other errors which seem to indicate unfamiliarity with European languages. The mistakes in references to French and German works are specially noticeable; and the pity is that parts of the bibliography are unnecessary, being relics of the submission by Adhya of his research as a thesis for a higher degree. There are misprints in the narrative also. He appears to use translations, instead of the originals, of some of the Greek and Roman sources. That does not matter much in itself; but in this connection it is sad to see that lively translator Rackham appear as Rockhem. Sometimes Adhya expresses himself as a classical scholar would not. Two examples: on page 127 he speaks about an 'Egyptian inscription' whereas it is a bilingual Greek and Latin one found in Egypt; again, on page 7, however true what he says about Strabo and the Elder Pliny, it is not right to equate them as he does by involuntary implication. The index is perfunctory and inadequate; the book deserves a completer one.