Seated woman of Çatalhöyük flanked by two lionesses
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The Potnia Theron (Ancient Greek: Ἡ Πότνια Θηρῶν,[1][hɛːpót.ni.atʰɛː.rɔ̂ːn], lit. "The Animal Queen") or Mistress of Animals is a widespread[not verified in body] motif in ancient art from the Mediterranean world and the ancient Near East, showing a central human, or human-like, female figure who grasps two animals, one to each side. Although the connections between images and concepts in the various ancient cultures concerned remain very unclear, such images are often referred to by the Greek term Potnia Theron regardless of culture of origin.
The term is first used once by Homer as a descriptor of Artemis[2] and often used to describe female divinities associated with animals.[3] The word Potnia, meaning mistress or lady, was a Mycenaean Greek word inherited by Classical Greek, with the same meaning, cognate to Sanskrit patnī.[4]
The oldest such depiction, the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, is a clay sculpture from Çatalhöyük in modern Turkey, made c 6,000 BC. This motif is more common in later Near Eastern and Mesopotamian art with a male figure, called the Master of Animals.
Homer's mention of Potnia Theron refers to Artemis; Walter Burkert describes this mention as "a well established formula".[5] An Artemis-type deity, a "Mistress of the Animals", is often assumed to have existed in prehistoric religion and often referred to as Potnia Theron with some scholars positing a relationship between Artemis and goddesses depicted in Minoan art.[3][6]
An early example of Italian Potnia theròn is in the Museo civico archeologico di Monte Rinaldo [7] in Italy: a plate illustrates a goddess that wears a long dress and holds hands with two lionesses.
In the Aeneid,[8] Virgil mentions that within Psychro's Cave, in Crete, there lived the goddess Cybele whose chariot was drawn by two lions.
Artemis Orthia in the usual stance of Potnia Theron on an archaic ivory votive offering, (National Archaeological Museum of Athens)
Relief on a pithos, 625-600 BC. National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Hypothetical restoration Artemis as Mistress of Animals, Parian pottery, 675–600 BC
Minoan goddess flanked by two lionesses (note the tufted tails)
^"πότνια - Ancient Greek (LSJ)". lsj.gr.
^"Homer, Iliad, Book 21, line 468". Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved 2020-04-13. Tὸν δὲ κασιγνήτη μάλα νείκεσε πότνια θηρῶν Ἄρτεμις ἀγροτέρη, καὶ ὀνείδειον φάτο μῦθον...
^ abFischer-Hansen, Tobias; Birte Poulsen (2009). From Artemis to Diana: the goddess of man and beast. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-8763507882.
^Chadwick, John (1976). The Mycenaean world. Cambridge University Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-521-29037-1.
^Burkert, Walter (1987). Greek Religion. Harvard University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-674-36281-9.
^Roller, Lynn E. (1999). In search of god the mother: the cult of Anatolian Cybele. University of California Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-520-21024-0. indefinite figures such as the Potnia Theron
^"Monte Rinaldo - Rete Museale dei Sibillini". Retemusealedeisibillini.it. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
^"Virgil, Aeneid Book 3, lines 110-113". Perseus Digital Library.
The PotniaTheron (Ancient Greek: Ἡ Πότνια Θηρῶν, [hɛː pót.ni.a tʰɛː.rɔ̂ːn], lit. "The Animal Queen") or Mistress of Animals is a widespread[not verified...
Homeric potniatheron (the mistress of the animals). Several tablets in Linear B script found at Knossos and Pylos refer to the potnia. Potnia is almost...
as PotniaTheron ("Queen of the Beasts"): a winged goddess holding a stag and lioness in her hands, or sometimes a lioness and a lion. Potniatheron is...
1896 novel by Harold Frederic PotniaTheron, ancient art motif Ptolemais Theron, ancient Greek marketplace in Africa MV Theron, later named MV Eurabia Sun...
Bibliotheca (3.10.1) and a companion of Artemis, in her archaic role as potniatheron, "Mistress of the animals", with its likely roots in prehistory. Mount...
who was subordinate to Ge. Dieterich believed that Kourotrophos and Potniatheron construct precisely the mother goddess. Ge is also personified in the...
the springs and the animals, and especially, to the goddess Artemis (PotniaTheron: "The mistress of the animals"), who was the first nymph. On a marble...
Goddess presiding over a male society; each is depicted in her attire as PotniaTheron "Mistress of the Beasts", and Mistress of the Sacrifice, even Hera and...
wilderness, as Mētēr oreia ("Mother of the Mountains"). She is depicted as a PotniaTheron ("Mistress of animals"), with her mastery of the natural world expressed...
abroad as Siberia. Similar motifs from subsequent eras include the PotniaTheron, found in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. Some feminist archeologists...
representations also characterise Artimpasa as a potnia hippōn alongside her status as a potniathērōn. Another winged depiction of Artimpasa shows her...
classification List of tree deities Ekendriya Master of Animals Plant soul PotniaTheron MILLER, JR., PATRICK D. (1985). "Eridu, Dunnu, and Babel: A Study in...
standing or seated between two horses, a tamer of horses in the manner of potniatheron, and the symbolic mare and foal. In the Equestrian type, common in Gaul...
supreme deity, the lord of all souls, and the cause of all existence". PotniaTheron Religion of the Indus Valley Civilization Kramrisch 1981, p. 479. Śarmā...
source of wisdom, rather than her role as Mistress of the Animals (PotniaTheron), with a leopard under each arm. Serpents figured prominently in archaic...
goddess, a snake goddess perhaps protectress of the household, the PotniaTheron goddess of animals, and a goddess of childbirth. Late Minoan terracotta...
she possessed the features of the latter Mother goddess well as of a potniathērōn, and she was therefore represented using similar iconography as Matar...
euphemism "Onkel"—being well-versed in comparative religion, noticed the PotniaTheron-like associations as well as the attributes of a Christian saint such...
deposit of electrum coins. Anatolian Artemis was the Πότνια Θηρῶν (PotniaThêrôn, "Mistress of Animals"), whose symbol was the stag. It took some time...
functions in the Mediterranean region. The "Mistress of the Animals" (PotniaTheron), later called Artemis, may be identified as the Minoan goddess Britomartis/Dictynna...
Anthropology of religion Evidence of prehistoric religion: Neolithic "PotniaTheron" type goddess, seated on a throne flanked by two lionesses, from Çatalhöyük...
goddess, a snake goddess perhaps protectress of the household, the PotniaTheron goddess of animals, and a goddess of childbirth. Late Minoan terracotta...
the character of the Lady of the Wolves is Lukwòsom Pòtnia (an allusion to Homer's Potniatheron) since Latin domina did not have the desired nuances...
Global Information
Artemis Orthia in the usual stance of Potnia Theron on an archaic ivory votive offering, (National Archaeological Museum of Athens)
Relief on a pithos, 625-600 BC. National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Hypothetical restoration Artemis as Mistress of Animals, Parian pottery, 675–600 BC
Minoan goddess flanked by two lionesses (note the tufted tails)
