The Artemis cult in Lydia and the Lydian girls’ choir: a political evaluation

Artemis, who was named after the places she was worshipped, reflects substantial differences in terms of features and the characteristics of her cults in Greece and Anatolia. When huntsmanship was replaced by agriculture in human history, the importance that women earned in economic and social areas brought about the matriarchal structure of society. Thus, it resulted in the embodiment of religious beliefs in the form of Mother Goddess concept which represented woman who possessed qualities such as nature dominance, creativity, nutritiousness and protectiveness. Artemis is another display of universal woman (matriarchal) attributes in the prehistoric Anatolian societies in her capacity as “Mother of the Gods,” “Great Mother,” and “Mother Goddess.” Not restricted to a particular area or time, Artemis was worshipped in Lydia as Koloene, Kordaka, Tmolia and Leukophryene. Artemis who was worshipped in Lydian cities such as Sardis, Magnesia on the Maeander, Koloe and Tmolos, which is the eponym of the mountain, resembles Artemis Ephesia in character. Although Artemis was not “divine mother” of the sovereigns as the representative of her political sovereignty, she helped Ionians and Lydians get together to celebrate the annual Ephesia festivities. The core of myths, which keeps collective memory alive and passes on to future generations lies in hymns. Hymns which are stories about gods are designed to praise, to remind and benefit oneself. Hymns are the communication tool between society and god. On the one hand, their aim is to gain the appreciation of god and be praised by the addressed community, but on the other hand, they intend to give both a social and political message through participation and hymn texts. From this point of view, Lydian girls’ choir, who dance and sing hymns at the festivities held in honour of Artemis of Ephesus, attract considerable attention. Thus, in this study the roles of Artemis – a symbol of faith association between Lydians and Ionians-and Lydian girls’ choir in the relationship between the aforementioned two areas have been discussed in terms of literary, mythological, epigraphic and archaeological sources, and their reflection on the association of myths, cult and politics has been examined.