Acropolis
A high or fortified part of a Greek city. The Athenian Acropolis became the setting for major sanctuaries, monuments, and dedications.
Aegis
A divine protective attribute associated especially with Zeus and Athena. Its form varies in text and image; it often carries a Gorgon’s head in representations of Athena.
Arrephoroi
Girls associated with sacred service on the Athenian Acropolis. Pausanias describes a nocturnal carrying rite involving concealed objects.
Athena Polias
Athena in relation to the polis, or civic community. At Athens the title is associated with an ancient image and a major priesthood.
Chryselephantine
Made with gold and ivory. The term describes the principal materials of Pheidias’s monumental Athena in the Parthenon.
Cult
In historical writing, the practices and institutions through which a deity is worshipped. The word does not by itself carry the modern pejorative sense of a coercive group.
Dedication
An object, monument, or other gift presented to a deity, often marked by an inscription or preserved through a record.
Epigraphy
The study of inscriptions. Letter forms, language, material, findspot, and later reuse can all contribute to interpretation.
Epiphany
An appearance or manifestation of a deity as reported in a source. Describing such a report does not establish its supernatural cause as a historical fact.
Epithet
A descriptive name or title. Divine epithets can identify a local relationship, a function, or a poetic characterization.
Ergane
A title of Athena commonly translated as Worker, associated with skilled production.
Frieze
An architectural band that may carry relief decoration. The Parthenon’s continuous Ionic frieze is distinct from its metopes and pediments.
Genos
A word connected with descent or kinship; in some Athenian religious contexts, a privileged descent group with inherited cult responsibilities.
Gorgoneion
The image of a Gorgon’s head, often used as a protective device. It appears on Athena’s aegis or shield in many works of art.
Hekatombaion
An Attic month associated with the Panathenaia. It belongs to a lunisolar calendar and should not be treated as a fixed Gregorian date.
Iconography
The study of subjects, attributes, and conventions in images. Identification depends on context as well as familiar symbols.
Metis
Resourceful or cunning intelligence; also the name of Athena’s mother in Hesiod’s genealogy. Context determines whether a personified deity or a quality is meant.
Nike
Victory. Nike can be represented as a distinct divine figure; Athena Nike is a particular cult identity of Athena.
Panathenaia
The Athenian festival for Athena, with annual observances and a greater celebration every four years.
Parthenos
Maiden or virgin. Athena Parthenos is especially familiar through the title of Pheidias’s monumental image in the Parthenon.
Pediment
The triangular area at the end of a temple roof, often occupied by sculpture. Pausanias identifies Athena’s birth and her contest with Poseidon on the Parthenon’s two pediments.
Peplos
A garment. In Athenian religious history, the term is especially associated with the textile presented to Athena at the Panathenaia.
Polis
A civic community or city-state. The word describes more than buildings: it includes people, institutions, and shared public life.
Primary source
Evidence produced within the period or tradition being studied, such as an ancient poem, inscription, or object. A source can be primary for one question and a later witness for another.
Provenance
The history of an object’s ownership or custody. It should be distinguished from an archaeological findspot and from the simple fact of its present collection.
Reception
The ways later people interpret, adapt, or use earlier works and traditions. A Renaissance Minerva is part of classical reception.
Sanctuary
A place set apart for a deity or sacred activity. It may contain altars, temples, dedications, and other structures; it is not synonymous with a single temple.
Theurgy
Religious practices understood within some later Platonist traditions as working toward relationship with the divine. The term should be tied to particular texts and authors rather than used for every form of ancient worship.
Votive
Given or dedicated to a deity, often in connection with a vow or request. The surviving object may not preserve the circumstances of its dedication.
Xoanon
A term often used in discussions of ancient wooden cult images. The age and identity of a particular image need evidence beyond the use of the word.