The Sanctuary of Despoina at Lykosoura: a Megalopolitan Creation?

peer reviewedAccording to Pausanias' Description of Greece, the sanctuary of Despoina at Lykosoura was created before the Trojan War and was already important at the time of the foundation of Megalopolis by synoecism in the first half of the fourth century B.C. However, the absence of any mention of Despoina or Lykosoura in written sources earlier than the third century as well as the archaeological evidence invite us to challenge this alleged antiquity. This paper rather ventures the hypothesis that Despoina was a cult figure created by Megalopolis and that her sanctuary was given a pan-Arcadian flavour by the importation of cults and traditions that already existed in other cities