Heros Amphiaraos from Greek Greece Orosos 4 year BC charioteer driver horse cart
The Amphiareion of Oropos situated in the hills 6 km southeast of the fortified port of Oropos, was a sanctuary dedicated to the hero Amphiaraos where pilgrims went to seek oracular responses and healing. This hero was a descendant of the seer Melampos and initially refused to participate in the attack on Thebes (detailed in the Seven Against Thebes of Aeschylus) because he could foresee that it would be a disaster.[1] In some versions of the myth, the earth opens and swallows the chariot of Amphiaraos, transforming him into a chthonic deity The sanctuary is located km NNE of Athens and contained a temple of Amphiaraos (with an acrolithic cult statue), as well as a sacred spring, a theater, a stoa, and associated structures. The sanctuary extended for c. 240 m northeast from the Temple of Amphiaraos along a streambed. The cult dates to the 5th century BCE, and there was an upswing in the sanctuary’s reputation as a healing site during the plague that hit Athens in the late 5th BCE. Herodotos relates that the oracular response of this shrine was one of only two correct answers to the test put to them all by the Lydian king Croesos.[3] There were many dedications from Greeks, notable Romans, and others, many with inscriptions.[4] On the southeast side of the streambed there are extensive remains of domestic structures as well as an unusually well-preserved klepsedra (water clock). Amphiaraos was also worshiped at the site of Rhamnous c. km southeast, as well as at Athens, Argos, Sparta, and other sites. The cult at the Amphiareion came to an end by the 5th century CE.
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Location: Museum
Photo credit: © Peter Horree / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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