The Cult of Zeus Eleutherios in the Athenian Agora and Liberation from Slavery

Abstract

In the 430-420s BC, in the midst of the Archidamian War, the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios, which, according to the grammarian Didymus, theoretically commemorated the liberation from the Persians, was built in Athens1. However, in the same entry in Harpocration’s lexicon another piece of news is noted, in this case by the orator Hyperides, in which he relates the construction of the portico by freedmen known as exeleutheroi. In what follows, an enquiry is performed not only into the construction of the stoa but also into the cult of Zeus in the Archaic and Classical agora, as it seems that the sanctuary was preceded by an earlier cultic space (possibly with a small sanctuary) before the construction of the portico. The intention is to determine the connections with Zeus Eleutherios and, consequently, the concept of freedom/liberation linked to the god in Athens in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, all of which contributed to Athenian identity-building at the time.