Demeter and Persephone in Ancient Corinth

By (author) Nancy Bookidis By (author) Ronald S. Stroud

Book cover: Demeter and Persephone in Ancient Corinth

Extent: 32 pages

Publisher: American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Subjects: Classical Studies, Mediterranean Archaeology

Series: Corinth Notes

Series volume number: 2

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(November 1987)

ISBN: 9780876616710

5.47 x 8.46 inches

Price: $4.95

In stock

This concise and beautifully illustrated book demonstrates the many roles played by the horse in the lives of the Greeks, from its place in myth and early history to its significance as a marker of social status and its use in warfare, transportation, games, and festivals.


When the Roman tourist Pausanias visited Corinth around A.D. 160, he saw many shrines and buildings high up to the south of the city, on the slopes of Acrocorinth. This booklet describes excavations at one of these, the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone (Kore). The details of religious rites revealed are of particular interest since the cult of the two goddesses, also celebrated at Eleusis, is one of the most mysterious in antiquity, and no literary testimony exists to explain what may have happened behind the high walls. Terracotta dolls, ritual meals of pork, and miniature models of food-filled platters hint at a vigorous religious tradition associated with human and agricultural fertility.

  • By (author) Nancy Bookidis
  • By (author) Ronald S. Stroud