‘ἐμήδισαν προθύμως οὐδ᾽ ἔτι ἐνδοιαστῶς’: Thessalian Medism and its repercussions

• Emma Aston ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Reading

     University of Reading

     Reino Unido

     
• Localización: Hermathena, ISSN 0018-0750, Nº. 204-205, 2018 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Elite responses to the rise of Achaemenid Persia), págs. 7-40
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article argues that certain religious trends in fifth-century Thessaly can best be understood in relation to the Persian Wars and their aftermath. Thessaly famously medised in 480 BCE and, while it seems to have escaped formal punishment, its cultural standing in Greece was adversely affected. In particular, it lost a great deal of its influence within the Delphic amphictyony. So far from losing interest in Delphi, however, the region’s elites found new ways of maintaining their visibility in Delphi’s ritual calendar, and promoting the utility and value of their homeland. Finally, it is argued that the conditions prevailing after the invasion of Xerxes encouraged the expression of shared regional identity in Thessaly.