interesting case is that of Apollo Agyieus at Tegea (Pausanias 8.53.1). The epithet
Agyieus reflected the god’s protection of streets; but he was also associated with the
themes of an old agrarian cult: sterility sent by the gods in punishment for a murder,
and rites instituted to appease them in accordance with an oracle from the Pythia
(Jost, forthcoming (a)).
Poseidon Hippios’ epithet also takes on a distinctive color in Arcadia. In his Achaea
book Pausanias writes, ‘‘I assume that he owes his name to his role as the inventor of
riding,’’ and, after citing Homer and Pamphos, he concludes, ‘‘It is because of riding,
and not for any other reason, that he received this name’’ (7.21.8–9). But in Arcadia,
it was a different story. ‘‘The people of Thelpusa were the first of the Arcadians by
whom Poseidon was surnamed Hippios’’ (Pausanias 8.25.7), and this time it is the
birth of the horse Arion that justified the epithet: he was born from the union of
Poseidon, transformed into a horse, with Demeter, who had taken on the shape of a
mare. Thus the epithet is linked to the god’s theriomorphism. It should also be noted
that at Mantinea Poseidon Hippios appears to have been the protective deity of the
city (Jost 1985:290–2; Mylonopoulos 2003:419–20); Poseidon Hippios accordingly
had functions rather more extensive than those of a mere protector of horses.
In Arcadia, then, as we can see, the ‘‘panhellenic’’ epithets of deities were often
employed with a connotation of particular relevance to the sanctuaries to which they
were attached.
Some names are strictly Arcadian. The Megalai Theai (‘‘Great Goddesses’’) of
Megalopolis are an Arcadian invention probably connected with the foundation
of the city of Megalopolis (Jost 1994; Stiglitz 1967); their name echoes that of the
city. More often, it is the cultic epithet that bestows distinctiveness upon a ‘‘panhellenic’’
deity. Epithets allow us to learn about a multitude of individual local deities.
The distinctiveness of epithets is particularly clear when they witness ancient
associations between local deities and deities that are basically panhellenic. In the
case of Athena Alea, literary, epigraphical, numismatic, and archaeological testimonia
combine to allow us to follow an evolution which led from the cult of Alea to those of
Alea Athena and Athena Alea, fully within the historical period. The existence of a
goddess Alea, independent of Athena, was a uniquely Arcadian phenomenon: she is
attested at Mantinea (IGv.2 262 and 271: she underlies the tribal name Epalea). At
Tegea, a fragment of a stele dated to around 525–520 BC records an athlete’s
dedication to Alea (IGv.2 75). The name of Aleos, the founder of the sanctuary of
the goddess (Pausanias 8.45.4) and that of the games called Aleaia (IGv.2 142;
Pausanias 8.47.4) likewise reflect a cult of Alea. In the archaic period Athena was
present in the sanctuary of Alea at Tegea, although her name had yet to appear: a
bronze votive statuette represents her in arms (Jost 1975: figs 16–18). In the classical
period, the Tegean goddess is still called Alea by Xenophon (Hellenica6.5.27) but
Herodotus (1.66 and 9.70) and Euripides (Auge, Hypothesis 6) call her Alea Athena.
Alea is given her name in the first instance and Athena appears to be a secondary deity
in her role as epithet; Alea loses her autonomy, but not her precedence. The name
Alea Athena is found still in Menander (Herosline 84), and then in Strabo (C388) and
in two inscriptions of the first and second centuries AD (IGv.2 81 lines 6–7 and 50
line 2). In parallel, the name Athena Alea, which privileges Athena at the expense of
Alea and reduces the latter to the role of epithet, is known from the third or second
centuries BC from Tegean bronze coinage. This is also the form that Pausanias used.
270 Madeleine Jost