Anytos
titanA Titan figure honoured at the Eleusinian-adjacent mysteries of Arcadia as a divine foster-father.
The Myth
In the dense religious landscape of ancient Arcadia, Anytos occupied a unique position as a Titan who had escaped the punishment of Tartarus. Pausanias records that at Lycosura — which the Arcadians claimed was the first city ever built — a colossal statue of Anytos stood in the sanctuary of Despoina, armed as a warrior. The Arcadians told Pausanias that Anytos had raised Despoina, the daughter born of Demeter's union with Poseidon when the earth-goddess wandered in grief searching for Persephone. This Arcadian mystery cult ran parallel to the more famous Eleusinian Mysteries but retained older, more primal elements. Anytos as foster-Titan suggests a pre-Olympian religious stratum where Titans were not uniformly villainous but could serve as protectors of sacred knowledge and divine children.
Fun Fact
The Arcadians claimed Lycosura, where Anytos was worshipped, was the oldest city in the world — older than the moon.
Explore Further
Titan Mnemosyne (Memory)
titanThe Titaness of memory who lay with Zeus for nine nights and bore the nine Muses, making her the...
Titan War (Titanomachy)
titanThe ten-year war between the Titans and the Olympians that reshaped the cosmos and established...
Arcadia
placeArcadia was both a real mountainous region in the central Peloponnese and an idealised landscape of...
Demeter
godGoddess of grain, harvest, and the fertility of the earth. When her daughter Persephone was...
Demeter (Grain Mother)
godThe goddess of grain and agriculture whose grief at losing her daughter created winter and whose...
Demeter (Grain)
godDemeter was the goddess of grain, harvest, and fertility whose grief over Persephone's abduction...
Demeter Thesmophoros
godAn epithet of Demeter as bringer of divine law and civilised customs, honoured at the Thesmophoria,...
Eleusinian Mysteries
conceptThe most famous secret religious rites of ancient Greece, held annually at Eleusis in honour of...
Mysteries of Samothrace
conceptSecret rites on the island of Samothrace that promised initiates protection at sea, attracting...
Olympia
placeOlympia was the sanctuary in the Peloponnese where the ancient Olympic Games were held every four...
Perse
nymphAn Oceanid nymph who married the sun god Helios and bore him Circe, Pasiphae, and Aeetes — a family...
Persephone
godDaughter of Demeter and queen of the underworld. Her annual return from Hades brings spring; her...