thumb|right|Artemis Bendis, moulded terracotta figurine, perhaps from [[Tanagra, BC (Louvre)]]

Bendis () was a Thracian goddess associated with hunting and the moon. Worship of the goddess seems to have been introduced into Attica around 430 BC. In Athens, Bendis was identified with the goddess Artemis, but she had a separate temple at Piraeus, near the temple of Artemis, and was a distinct goddess. unite, combine'.

Worship

By a decree of the Oracle of Dodona, which required the Athenians to grant land for a shrine or temple, her cult was introduced into Attica by immigrant Thracian residents, and, though Thracian and Athenian processions remained separate, both cult and festival became so popular that in Plato's time () its festivities were naturalized as an official ceremonial of the city-state, called the Bendideia (Βενδίδεια). Among the events were night-time torch-races on horseback, mentioned in Plato's Republic, 328:

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"You haven't heard that there is to be a torchlight race this evening on horseback in honour of the Goddess?" "On horseback?" said I. "That is a new idea. Will they carry torches and pass them along to one another as they race with the horses, or how do you mean?" "That's the way of it," said Polemarchus, "and, besides, there is to be a night festival which will be worth seeing."

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In Piraeus there was a temple of the goddess which was called the Bendidia / Bendideion (Βενδίδειον).

References

Sources

  • "Bendis", William Smith (ed.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1867.
  • "Bendis (Thracian goddess)", The Editors. Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Jul. 1998. Accessed 24 January 2022.

Further reading

  • Auffarth, Christoph (Tübingen). “Bendis”. In: Brill’s New Pauly. Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 2 July 2022 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e215260>. First published online: 2006; First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510
  • Beschi, Luigi. "Bendis, the Great Goddess of the Thracians, in Athens". In: ORPHEUS - Journal of Indo-European and Thracian Studies. Институт за балканистика с Център по тракология - Българска академия на науките, 1990. pp.&nbsp;29–36.
  • Cerkezov, Valentin. "Iconography of the Thracian Goddess Bendis in the Tombstones with a "Funeral Feast" from Southern Thrace". In: Eirene: studia graeca et latina Nº 33, 1997, pp.&nbsp;53–66. . https://www.degruyter.com/database/HBOL/entry/hb.10712435/html
  • Janouchová, Petra. "The cult of Bendis in Athens and Thrace". In Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2013, vol. 18, iss. 1, pp.&nbsp;95–106. .
  • Planeaux, Christopher. “The Date of Bendis’ Entry into Attica”. In: The Classical Journal 96, no. 2 (2000): 165–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3298122.
  • "BENDIS - Thracian Goddess of the Moon & Hunting", Theoi Project, 2017. Accessed 24 January 2022.