{"id":15063,"date":"2024-02-29T08:45:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T13:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/?p=15063"},"modified":"2024-03-28T09:00:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T13:00:15","slug":"thracians-greeks-and-thracians-honouring-the-thracian-goddess-bendis-fifth-fourth-centuries-bce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/2024\/02\/thracians-greeks-and-thracians-honouring-the-thracian-goddess-bendis-fifth-fourth-centuries-bce\/","title":{"rendered":"Thracians: Greeks and Thracians honouring the Thracian goddess Bendis (fifth-third centuries BCE)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ancient authors: <\/em><\/strong>Plato,\u00a0The Republic <\/em>327-328 (link<\/a>); Greeks and Thracians in the Piraeus and on Salamis island, various inscriptions (see links below).<\/p>\n

Comments: <\/em><\/strong>As Herodotos and Thucydides (both late fifth century BCE) show, Greek attitudes about Thracians (a Greek term for many peoples just north of Macedonia and west of the Black Sea) could be quite negative. Herodotos observes that they were the most populace set of peoples in the known world, but nonetheless places them very low on the ethnic hierarchy (reflecting hierarchies shared by other Greek elites) (link<\/a>). Thucydides gives considerable attention to the Odrysian kingdom within Thrace, but also relates episodes involving Thracians that point to them being an extremely savage and violent people (link<\/a>). You can search “Thracians” on this site to see many other examples of characterizations.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, there are also signs that some Athenians and others in Attica could have a different take on Thracians, or at least Thracian culture. So, for instance, in one of Aristophanes’ lost plays (cited by Athenaios, Deipnosophist<\/i>s<\/i> 12.75), there are references to “Thrace-frequenters,” Athenian elites with a penchant for all things Thracian. Furthermore, there is substantial literary and, especially, epigraphic evidence (presented below) that the Thracian goddess Bendis was honoured in the Piraeus, Athens and elsewhere in Attica by at least 429 or 413 BCE (see Planeaux) not only by Thracian immigrants, but also by local Greeks. In fact, some of the evidence, including Plato’s dialogue, shows that Greeks and Thracians would, on occasion, join together to honor the goddess. So this, too, points to local examples of somewhat positive ethnic relations between Greeks and Thracians outside of Thrace itself.<\/p>\n

Works consulted: J.J. Chu, \u201cThracians Among Others: A Study of \u2018Thracianness\u2019 in Ancient Cross-Cultural Contexts\u201d (Ph.D., Riverside, CA, University of California, Riverside, 2022) (link<\/a>); C. Planeaux, \u201cThe Date of Bendis\u2019 Entry into Attica,\u201d CJ<\/i> 96 (2000): 165\u201392 (link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Marble relief of Bendis, goddess of the Thracians, along with several athletic youths, now in the British Museum (ca. 400\u2013375 BCE; photo by Harland).<\/p><\/div>\n

Plato, The Republic<\/em><\/span> (ca. 380 BCE)
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[Character of Socrates refers to first performance of the night festival for the Thracian goddess] <\/strong><\/p>\n

(327-328) Socrates:<\/em> I went down to the Piraeus yesterday with Ariston\u2019s son Glaukon to offer my prayers to the goddess [Bendis] and also because I wanted to watch the festival and see how they would perform it, seeing that this was the first time they were holding it. I must say that I thought that the procession of the local people was quite excellent, but the one put on by the Thracian contingent seemed no less impressive. When we had made our prayers and seen the spectacle, we started back toward town. Now, as we were heading homeward, Polemarchos the son of Kephalos caught sight of us from a distance and ordered his slave to run on and tell us to wait for him. Coming up from behind the slave caught hold of my cloak and said \u201cPolemarchos tells you to wait.\u201d So I turned round and asked where he was. \u201cThere he is,\u201d he said, \u201cbehind you, coming this way. Do wait.\u201d \u201cAll right, we will,\u201d said Glaukon. . . [omitted long interchange indicating they may leave<\/i>]. \u201cAre you telling us that you don\u2019t know,\u201d Adeimantos added, \u201cthat there\u2019s to be a torch race on horseback this evening in honour of the goddess [Bendis]\u201d \u201cOn horseback?\u201d I [Socrates] said; \u201cthat really is something new! Do you mean they pass torches on to each other as they race their horses? Or something else?\u201d \u201cExactly that,\u201d said Polemarchos, \u201cand besides, they\u2019re going to hold an all-night festival, which will be worth watching. After dinner we\u2019ll get up and go out and have a look at the festival. We will meet a lot of young men there and talk to them. Do stay, and don\u2019t refuse us.\u201d \u201cIt looks as if we will have to stay,\u201d replied Glaukon. \u201cWell, if that\u2019s what you decide,\u201d I said, \u201cthat\u2019s what we must do.\u201d . . . [omitted remiainder of dialogue since the discussion distracts away from attending the night portion of the festival for Bendis<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Inscriptional evidence<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Piraeus and Athens, Attica
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