This paper offers a collection of generally neglected Hellenistic epigrams and some literary and epigraphic evidence that attest to the worship of Aphrodite as a patron deity of navigation. The goddess' temples were often coastal not because they were places where "sacred prostitution" was practiced, but rather because of Aphrodite's association with the sea and her role as a patron of seafaring. The protection she offered was to anyone who sailed, including the navy and traders, and is attested throughout the Mediterranean, from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods. Further, the texts examined here reveal a metaphorical link between Aphrodite's role as patron of navigation and her role as a goddess of sexuality.Résumé : Cet article présente une série d'épigrammes hellénistiques généralement peu étudiées et quelques témoignages littéraires et épigraphiques attestant le culte d'Aphrodite en tant que protectrice de la navigation. Les temples de la déesse occupaient souvent une position littorale, non parce qu'ils étaient des lieux où la « prostitution sacrée » était prati quée, mais plutôt en raison de l'association d'Aphrodite avec la mer et de son rôle de patronne des marins. La protection qu'elle accordait était destinée à tous les navigateurs, y compris la marine et les commerçants, et est attestée dans toute la Méditerranée, depuis la période archaïque jusqu'à la période hellénistique. De plus, les textes examinés révèlent un lien métaphorique entre les rôles d'Aphrodite comme protectrice de la navigation d'une part et comme déesse de la sexualité d'autre part.

No abstract

No abstract

The Mediterranean basin was a multicultural region with a great diversity of linguistic, religious, social and ethnic groups. This dynamic social and cultural landscape encouraged extensive contact and exchange among different communities. This book seeks to explain what happened when different ethnic, social, linguistic and religious groups, among others, came into contact with each other, especially in multiethnic commercial settlements located throughout the region. What means did they employ to mediate their interactions? How did each group construct distinct identities while interacting with others? What new identities came into existence because of these contacts? Professor Demetriou brings together several strands of scholarship that have emerged recently, especially ethnic, religious and Mediterranean studies. She reveals new aspects of identity construction in the region, examining the Mediterranean as a whole, and focuses not only on ethnic identity but also on other types of collective identities, such as civic, linguistic, religious and social.

Through an analysis of both bilingual and exclusively Greek inscriptions commissioned by state actors in Athens and on the islands of Delos and Kos, this chapter explores attempts by Phoenician city-states to manage as well as facilitate the migration of their mobile populations. Such inscriptions indicate that widespread mobility and migration in the region during the fourth to the second centuries bce led states to take steps to clarify the legal standing of their citizens who traveled or lived abroad through a range of diplomatic acts and dedications in religious sanctuaries. As the chapter shows, authorities of Phoenician city-states attempted to regulate mobility and migration by negotiating privileges for their citizens who lived abroad and enabling them to maintain their cultural traditions and their citizenship in their home state. At least one of their motivations seems to have been to ensure that citizens paid taxes directly to their home states. The ties between immigrants and their home states were also bolstered by immigrants living in Greek communities, whose own benefactions and contributions to Phoenician trade organizations helped sustain those long-distance relationships and boost the image of their city-states of origin.