In Search of the Dioskouroi. Image, Myth and Cult

This book re-examines the Greek Dioskouroi, Kastor and Polydeukes, exploring their roles in image, myth, and cult. Case studies focus on their homelands in myth – Sparta, Messene, and Argos – and areas where Greek mariners sought their protection. Findings suggest that, for the Greeks, the term ‘Dioskouroi’ may have held a specific votive meaning.

Who were the Dioskouroi? This study sets out to revisit the evidence and explore the Greeks’ experience of the Spartan brothers Kastor and Polydeukes in image, myth and cult. Commonly equated with the Roman Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, first by Roman writers in antiquity and subsequently by their western successors, the Greek Dioskouroi are here examined as they were represented in the period before the Roman hegemony of Greece. The evidence is explored through a series of case studies, chosen to focus chiefly on the brothers’ homelands in myth – Sparta, Messene and Argos in the Peloponnese. Also reviewed is their presence on Eastern Aegean shores, and on trading routes where Greeks and other mariners may have sought the protection of the Dioskouroi, above all Thera, Kyrene and Naukratis. Our journey of rediscovery also includes Delos, crossroads of cultures in antiquity. In the process, some fresh perspectives have emerged, not least that Kastor and Polydeukes may not always have been synonymous with the Dioskouroi and, when they were, that appellation may have carried a specific and votive meaning.

Foreword Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Starting out: the research and its aims Introducing Kastor and Polydeukes, the Greek Dioskouroi Designing the study Methodology The context of past scholarship Chapter 2. First steps on the journey: searching for the Dioskouroi in Greece from the time of Homer Who were the Dioskouroi? Sources for myths of the Dioskouroi: literature, vases, and temple decoration Images of the Dioskouroi from Greece Buildings and sacred space Summing up Chapter 3. The Dioskouroi at home: in the Peloponnese An introductory tour Sparta The literary evidence for cult Pausanias at Sparta The archaeological evidence for sacred space at Sparta Votive reliefs and inscriptions Characteristics of the Dioskouroi at Sparta Messene The archaeological and literary context Sources for history and cult at Messene before Epaminondas: interpreting Pausanias A Messenian mythography of the Dioskouroi The archaeological evidence for cult of the Dioskouroi Sanctuary O-O and the Dioskouroi Argos The literary record The equestrian images of the Dioskouroi at Argos The archaeological evidence Cult of the Fanakes and the Dioskouroi at Argos The cavalier relief Cult of the Dioskouroi at Argos and in the Argolid Chapter 4. The Dioskouroi abroad: some early appearances in the eastern Mediterranean An introduction Thera Kyrene The literary evidence for cult of the Dioskouroi The archaeological evidence for a sanctuary of the Dioskouroi at Kyrene A Dioskourion at Kyrene? The Dioskouroi, Dioskoureia and dining Kyrene, Sparta and Thera The provenance of cults of the Dioskouroi at Kyrene Naukratis Cult of the Dioskouroi at Naukratis: gathering the evidence The pottery finds A temple of the Dioskouroi? Interpreting the finds Summing up Thasos Delos Overview The evidence for cult The evidence for a Dioskourion Additional material evidence for cult of the Dioskouroi on Delos Cult of the Dioskouroi on Delos The evidence from Delos in the wider context Chapter 5. Journey's end Drawing together the threads Summing up: reflections on the journey Bibliography Index,

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Starting out: the research and its aims

Introducing Kastor and Polydeukes, the Greek Dioskouroi

Designing the study

Methodology

The context of past scholarship

Chapter 2. First steps on the journey: searching for the Dioskouroi in Greece from the time of Homer

Who were the Dioskouroi?

Sources for myths of the Dioskouroi: literature, vases, and temple decoration

Images of the Dioskouroi from Greece

Buildings and sacred space

Summing up

Chapter 3. The Dioskouroi at home: in the Peloponnese

An introductory tour

Sparta

The literary evidence for cult

Pausanias at Sparta

The archaeological evidence for sacred space at Sparta

Votive reliefs and inscriptions

Characteristics of the Dioskouroi at Sparta

Messene

The archaeological and literary context

Sources for history and cult at Messene before Epaminondas: interpreting Pausanias

A Messenian mythography of the Dioskouroi

The archaeological evidence for cult of the Dioskouroi

Sanctuary Ω–Ω and the Dioskouroi

Argos

The literary record

The equestrian images of the Dioskouroi at Argos

The archaeological evidence

Cult of the Fanakes and the Dioskouroi at Argos

The cavalier relief

Cult of the Dioskouroi at Argos and in the Argolid

Chapter 4. The Dioskouroi abroad: some early appearances in the eastern Mediterranean

An introduction

Thera

Kyrene

The literary evidence for cult of the Dioskouroi

The archaeological evidence for a sanctuary of the Dioskouroi at Kyrene

A Dioskourion at Kyrene?

The Dioskouroi, Dioskoureia and dining

Kyrene, Sparta and Thera

The provenance of cults of the Dioskouroi at Kyrene

Naukratis

Cult of the Dioskouroi at Naukratis: gathering the evidence

The pottery finds

A temple of the Dioskouroi?

Interpreting the finds

Summing up

Thasos

Delos

Overview

The evidence for cult

The evidence for a Dioskourion

Additional material evidence for cult of the Dioskouroi on Delos

Cult of the Dioskouroi on Delos

The evidence from Delos in the wider context

Chapter 5. Journey’s end

Drawing together the threads

Summing up: reflections on the journey

Bibliography

Index

Sarah V. Graham (nee Fraenkel) holds a Master’s degree and a Doctorate in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford, where she studied Ancient Greek vase-painting with Professor Donna Kurtz. Her first degree was in Modern History from the University of Edinburgh. She also undertook postgraduate research at Oxford in eighteenth-century French history under the late Professor Richard Cobb before embarking on a career in Government, including a spell as a Director in the then Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit at No.10. Subsequently she was the founding Chair of a social enterprise employing people who had been in prison. She has been drawn afresh to academic study by a love of Greece, ancient and modern. She currently lives and works in Oxford, where she is an associate member of Wolfson College and co-directed its Ancient World Research Cluster.

• By (author) Sarah V. Graham

'All in all, Graham’s Periegesis is a significant contribution to Classical Archaeology and religious studies. Her meticulous approaches shed fresh light on the worship of “perhaps the most complex among the Greek gods,” opening new paths for exploration. Accompanied by 90, mostly color, images, three maps, and a carefully organized index, this work meets a felt need both for scholars and the general reader.' — Aeneas Kapouranis (2025): Bryn Mawr Classical Review

—

'The book is well illustrated with site plans, maps, and a generous number of color images from the various times and locations covered. Two background chapters introduce the pair as heroic figures and explain the author’s evidence, aims, and methodology. These are followed by two lengthy chapters summarizing the information gathered according to sites in the Peloponnese and the eastern Mediterranean.' – Tyler Jo Smith (2025): Religious Studies Review, Volume 51

—