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Last Updated on 18 Jun 2019

Author: Stella Skaltsa

CAPInv. 1056: dolon

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Mysia
iii. Site Kyzikos

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) δόλων (Suid., s.v. δόλων)
ii. Full name (transliterated) dolon

III. DATE

i. Date(s) Inc.

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Other:LSJ9, s.v. δόλων: 1. flying jib, 2. secret weapon, 3. fishing rod
Hasluck (1910, 233) assumes in light of the name dolon that a ritual consisting of the procession of a vessel would have been part of the celebration of the cult of Artemis.
iii. Descriptive terms θίασος, thiasos

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) Suid., s.v. δόλων
i.a. Source type(s) Literary source(s)

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Women
Note γυναικεῖος θίασος (Suid., s.v. δόλων)

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship Artemis
Deities worshipped Artemis

XII. NOTES

i. Comments According to Suidas citing Ailianos, dolon designates the female thiasos centered around the cult of Artemis in Kyzikos (ὁ παρὰ τοῖς Κυζικηνοῖς τήν ῞Αρτεμιν θεραπεύων γυναικείος θίασος, ὥς φησιν Αἰλιανός). The use of the term thiasos in this instance seems to designate a closed group that bears a distinct name and its members are apparently exclusively women. The private nature of this thiasos remains open to question.
This is not the first attestation of the cult of Artemis in Kyzikos. SEG 28: 953 attest to the existence of an association of Pythaistrides centered around the cult of Artemis, probably Artemis Pythia (CAPInv. 1055).
According to Strabo Artemis was also venerated as Artemis Mounichia (Str. 639), whose cult is further attested in the two honorific inscriptions for Kleidike, who held the priesthood of Artemis Mounichia (IMT Kyz Kapu Dağ 1432 l. 12; IMT Kyz Kapu Dağ 1433 l. 14 (CAPInv. ....).
iii. Bibliography Hasluck, F.W. 1910. Cyzicus. Being Some Account of the History and Antiquities of that City, and of the District Adjacent to it, with the Towns of Apollonia Ad Rhyndacum, Miletupolis, Hadrianutherae, Priapus, Zeleia, etc. Cambridge

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note The name dolon and the exclusivity of the members (only women) points to a sort of a closed group. What is unclear, however, is the private nature of the association.