ASPECTS OF ANCIENT GREEK CULT III: Cults and Architecture at the South Slope of the Athenian Akropolis
CALL FOR PAPERS FOR YOUNGER SCHOLARS
Cults and Architecture at the South Slope of the Athenian Akropolis
An International Colloquium
3-5 March 2026, Athens
Invitation
The Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens and the Directorate for the Restoration of
Ancient Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Danish Institute at Athens (DIA)
and the Danish Institute for Mediterranean Studies (DIOMEDES) cordially invite three
younger scholars to participate with a paper in the first international conference dedicated
to the architectural monuments and cults of the South Slope of the Athenian Akropolis, 3-5
March 2025 in Athens.
The South Slope of the Athenian Akropolis
Today, the South Slope is one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations from the
ancient Greek world. It was here that the world’s first permanent theatre building was
built in the Sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus. It was one of the most important locations
for visual culture with statues of important Athenian citizens and Greek deities, statues
that were master works of the most famous sculptors of the time like Alkamenes and
Praxiteles. These works of art were described and praised by ancient authors like the
rhetor and sophist Kallistratos (living during the late 4th or early 5th century AD), who
composed a unique series of descriptions (Ἐκφράσεις) of 14 works of art, mostly statues
set up on the South Slope and especially in the Sanctuary of the Dionysos Eleuthereus.
It was also in this theatre plays by legendary dramatic playwrights like Aeschylus,
Sophokles, Euripides and Aristophanes were performed during the annual festival in
March to the wine god, the Great Dionysia. The winners of the dithyrambic and dramatic
competitions were paying extreme amounts of money to famous sculptors and craftsmen
to create victory monuments erected along the Street of Tripods, thereby forever being
immortalized.
Just like in ancient times, the tourists today also visit the well-preserved and reconstructed
Herodion on their way up to the Propylaia of the Akropolis. If walking from the Theatre of
Dionysos Eleuthereus, tourists would visit the terrace above the Stoa of Eumenes II with
the ancient sanctuary of the medicine god Asklepios with its two temples (ἀρχαῖος ναός
and ναός) and the Doric Stoa with the monumental βόθρος. If they were going around
west of the theatre towards the East and North Slopes of the Akropolis, the ancient tourist
before and after the time of Pausanias would visit tombs of mythical heroes such as
Halirrhothios, Talos or Kalos and Hippolytos showing the importance of the South Slope’s
many ancient cults.
The South Slope was in ancient times the primary location for entertainment of the
Athenian citizens with the theatre, the stadion (before the Stoa of Eumenes II), Perikles’
Odeion and later in the Roman period, yet another concert hall, the Herodion (AD 161).
But the South Slope was just as important for the many ancient cults worshipped by the
Athenian citizens with sanctuaries of Aphodite, Asklepios, the Nymphs and Pan,
Dionysos and later foreign cults such as Kybele and Isis.
Therefore, it is now time for the first international colloquium to investigate the ancient
architecture, sculpture, inscriptions and cults of the South Slope of the Akropolis. As the
ancient city state of Athens used the South Slope as a place where it promoted Athenian
architecture, literature, music, performance arts, plastic arts and philosophy to the whole
Mediterranean world, we will now study aspects of ancient Greek cults and its
architecture in Athens.
Keynote Speakers
The keynote speakers are Emeritus Professor of Ancient History, Fellow at King’s College,
Robin Osborne, Cambridge University, Solomon Bluhm Professor of Ancient History,
Bronwen Wickkiser, Hunter College, New York, Archaeologist,
Elisavet P. Sioumpara, Service for the Restoration of the Akropolis Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens and Director of the Siris-Project, Excavation in South Italy
& Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin, Annarita Doronzio, Winckelmann-Institut, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
Besides his own keynote talk, final remarks will be delivered by George Hinge, Associate
Professor at Aarhus University.
Presentations
Each speaker will have 45 minutes available for their total presentation including the
following discussion. Approximately 30 minutes will be reserved for the presentation
themselves. The conference language is English.
Organisation Committee
Michaelis Lefantzis
Head of Department of Studies of Ancient Monuments
Directorate for the Restoration of Ancient Monuments
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens
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Sanne Hoffmann
Director
Danish Institute at Athens (DIA)
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Jesper Tae Jensen
Executive Director
Danish Institute for Mediterranean Studies (DIOMEDES), Copenhagen
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Scientific Committee
Denise A. Demetriou
Gerry and Jeannie Ranglas Chair in Ancient Greek History
Co-Director of Center for Hellenic Studies, Department of History
University of California, San Diego (2022-2025) &
Elizabeth A. Whitehead Distinguished Scholar of the American School of Classical Studies
at Athens (2025-2026)
Alexander Mazarakis Ainian
Director of the Excavation at the Ancient Capital of Kythnos &
Professor of Classical Archaeology
Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology
University of Thessaly, Volos
Vassilis Lambrinoudakis
Professor Emeritus
Department of History and Archaeology
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Andreas I. Darlas
Director
Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology-Speleology
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens
Mark Wilson Jones
Visiting Professor
Ax:son Johnson Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and
History of Art
University of Cambridge, UK
Conference Sponsors
Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens &
Directorate for the Restoration of Ancient Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Danish Institute at Athens (DIA)
Acta Archaeologica, Brill, Leiden
Danish Institute for Mediterranean Studies (DIOMEDES), Copenhagen
Wilhelm Malling (an international law firm), Nuuk, Greenland
Kroer\Fink Advokater (an international law firm), Copenhagen
Please send a title and a short abstract ca. 10 lines before 15 July 2025 to:
Jesper Tae Jensen
E-mail:Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein.
It is possible to apply for travel and/or accommodation grants.
Cults and Architecture at the South Slope of the Athenian Akropolis
An International Colloquium
3-5 March 2026, Athens
Invitation
The Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens and the Directorate for the Restoration of
Ancient Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Danish Institute at Athens (DIA)
and the Danish Institute for Mediterranean Studies (DIOMEDES) cordially invite three
younger scholars to participate with a paper in the first international conference dedicated
to the architectural monuments and cults of the South Slope of the Athenian Akropolis, 3-5
March 2025 in Athens.
The South Slope of the Athenian Akropolis
Today, the South Slope is one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations from the
ancient Greek world. It was here that the world’s first permanent theatre building was
built in the Sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus. It was one of the most important locations
for visual culture with statues of important Athenian citizens and Greek deities, statues
that were master works of the most famous sculptors of the time like Alkamenes and
Praxiteles. These works of art were described and praised by ancient authors like the
rhetor and sophist Kallistratos (living during the late 4th or early 5th century AD), who
composed a unique series of descriptions (Ἐκφράσεις) of 14 works of art, mostly statues
set up on the South Slope and especially in the Sanctuary of the Dionysos Eleuthereus.
It was also in this theatre plays by legendary dramatic playwrights like Aeschylus,
Sophokles, Euripides and Aristophanes were performed during the annual festival in
March to the wine god, the Great Dionysia. The winners of the dithyrambic and dramatic
competitions were paying extreme amounts of money to famous sculptors and craftsmen
to create victory monuments erected along the Street of Tripods, thereby forever being
immortalized.
Just like in ancient times, the tourists today also visit the well-preserved and reconstructed
Herodion on their way up to the Propylaia of the Akropolis. If walking from the Theatre of
Dionysos Eleuthereus, tourists would visit the terrace above the Stoa of Eumenes II with
the ancient sanctuary of the medicine god Asklepios with its two temples (ἀρχαῖος ναός
and ναός) and the Doric Stoa with the monumental βόθρος. If they were going around
west of the theatre towards the East and North Slopes of the Akropolis, the ancient tourist
before and after the time of Pausanias would visit tombs of mythical heroes such as
Halirrhothios, Talos or Kalos and Hippolytos showing the importance of the South Slope’s
many ancient cults.
The South Slope was in ancient times the primary location for entertainment of the
Athenian citizens with the theatre, the stadion (before the Stoa of Eumenes II), Perikles’
Odeion and later in the Roman period, yet another concert hall, the Herodion (AD 161).
But the South Slope was just as important for the many ancient cults worshipped by the
Athenian citizens with sanctuaries of Aphodite, Asklepios, the Nymphs and Pan,
Dionysos and later foreign cults such as Kybele and Isis.
Therefore, it is now time for the first international colloquium to investigate the ancient
architecture, sculpture, inscriptions and cults of the South Slope of the Akropolis. As the
ancient city state of Athens used the South Slope as a place where it promoted Athenian
architecture, literature, music, performance arts, plastic arts and philosophy to the whole
Mediterranean world, we will now study aspects of ancient Greek cults and its
architecture in Athens.
Keynote Speakers
The keynote speakers are Emeritus Professor of Ancient History, Fellow at King’s College,
Robin Osborne, Cambridge University, Solomon Bluhm Professor of Ancient History,
Bronwen Wickkiser, Hunter College, New York, Archaeologist,
Elisavet P. Sioumpara, Service for the Restoration of the Akropolis Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens and Director of the Siris-Project, Excavation in South Italy
& Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin, Annarita Doronzio, Winckelmann-Institut, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
Besides his own keynote talk, final remarks will be delivered by George Hinge, Associate
Professor at Aarhus University.
Presentations
Each speaker will have 45 minutes available for their total presentation including the
following discussion. Approximately 30 minutes will be reserved for the presentation
themselves. The conference language is English.
Organisation Committee
Michaelis Lefantzis
Head of Department of Studies of Ancient Monuments
Directorate for the Restoration of Ancient Monuments
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens
E-mail:
Sanne Hoffmann
Director
Danish Institute at Athens (DIA)
E-mail:
Jesper Tae Jensen
Executive Director
Danish Institute for Mediterranean Studies (DIOMEDES), Copenhagen
E-mail:
Scientific Committee
Denise A. Demetriou
Gerry and Jeannie Ranglas Chair in Ancient Greek History
Co-Director of Center for Hellenic Studies, Department of History
University of California, San Diego (2022-2025) &
Elizabeth A. Whitehead Distinguished Scholar of the American School of Classical Studies
at Athens (2025-2026)
Alexander Mazarakis Ainian
Director of the Excavation at the Ancient Capital of Kythnos &
Professor of Classical Archaeology
Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology
University of Thessaly, Volos
Vassilis Lambrinoudakis
Professor Emeritus
Department of History and Archaeology
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Andreas I. Darlas
Director
Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology-Speleology
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens
Mark Wilson Jones
Visiting Professor
Ax:son Johnson Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and
History of Art
University of Cambridge, UK
Conference Sponsors
Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens &
Directorate for the Restoration of Ancient Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Danish Institute at Athens (DIA)
Acta Archaeologica, Brill, Leiden
Danish Institute for Mediterranean Studies (DIOMEDES), Copenhagen
Wilhelm Malling (an international law firm), Nuuk, Greenland
Kroer\Fink Advokater (an international law firm), Copenhagen
Please send a title and a short abstract ca. 10 lines before 15 July 2025 to:
Jesper Tae Jensen
E-mail:
It is possible to apply for travel and/or accommodation grants.