SOUNION
Attica, Greece.
A rocky peninsula
jutting into the sea at the S end of the region lies 69 km
SE of Athens. It is famous for its classical marble temple
which was built on the highest point of the cape and
dedicated to the god Poseidon. It became the site of
religious activities at least as early as 700 B.C. and in
later times it was frequently used as a place of sanctuary
by slaves who had run away from the nearby silver mines
at Laurion. The earliest literary reference to the site
occurs in the
Odyssey (3.278) where it is said that
Phrontis, Menelaus' pilot, was struck down by Apollo as
he was passing the sacred cape; in the winter of 413-412
B.C. during the Peloponnesian War, it was fortified to
protect the ships carrying corn to Athens (
Thuc. 8.4);
and later it was held by the slaves from the mines at Laurion during a civic unheaval (Posidonios, cited by Athenaeus, 6272ff).
The marble Temple of Poseidon, built soon after the
middle of the 5th c. B.C., is the main archaeological attraction of Sounion. Originally a colonnade encircled the
pronaos, the cella, where the cult statue of Poseidon was
placed, and the opisthodomos. Of the original colonnade,
which had 6 columns across the facades and 13 along the
sides, 2 columns still stand on the N and 9 along the S
flank. These unusually thin columns are articulated by 16
flutes, rather than 20 the more common number. The
lower two steps on which these columns stand are unusual
in their variegated surface and the cavetto molding which
undercuts the vertical raisers. One column still stands between the two antae of the pronaos; these are aligned with
the third column of the colonnade, an unusual characteristic of this architect. Originally a sculptured frieze
lined the four sides of the area in front of the pronaos.
The frieze depicted the Battle of the Centaurs, the Battle
of the Gods and Giants, and the deeds of Theseus. Several
of the frieze blocks can be seen on the site resting
against the fortification wall on the left as one approaches the temple. The pediments once held sculpture
(no longer preserved) and the whole was crowned by
floral akroteria. One of the akroteria, found almost complete, can be seen in the National Museum in Athens.
The temple is built of coarse-grained marble from the
nearby quarry of Agrileza. It was designed by the same
architect who built the Temples of Hephaistos and Ares
in Athens and the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous, as
indicated by the design (for example the relationship of
the porches to the lateral colonnade), proportions (the
unusually thin columns combined with a heavy superstructure), dimensions, and style (the Ionic moldings
and frieze). The Classical temple was constructed on
top of the remains of an earlier unfinished temple made
of poros limestone, begun in the early years of the 5th
c. B.C. and destroyed by the Persians in 480. The foundations, steps, and scattered fragments of the columns and
entablature of the earlier structure can be seen beneath
the later one. Immediately to the S there is a small structure with partially preserved rubble walls which may have
served as a temporary shrine after the destruction of the
earlier temple and before the construction of the new one.
The poros column drums that can be seen in its walls
came from the earlier temple.
Stoas (about which little is known) once lined the N
and W sides of the sacred area. Next to the stoa on
the N lay the entrance into the precinct. This gateway
consisted of two Doric porches of unequal length separated by a gate wall pierced by three doorways. A ramp
led through the central door, similar to the Propylaea
in Athens, so that animals for sacrifice could be led into
the sanctuary. Marble benches lined the two porches.
Fragments of 17 early archaic kouroi were found in a
deep pit E of the Temple of Poseidon. The statues were
probably damaged by the Persians at the time they destroyed the earlier temple. Since they were sacred dedications, they could not be entirely discarded, and thus they were deposited in the pit to make way for newer,
undamaged dedications. The best preserved of the statues
are on exhibit in the National Museum of Athens.
A fortification wall encircling the summit of the peninsula protected the inhabitants of the site. A few of
the houses within the fortification have been excavated.
They face onto a street roughly parallel to the N fortification wall and ca. 60 m distant from it. The houses
were inhabited from the 5th c. B.C. to Roman times.
The fortification wall can best be seen to the NE of the
gateway. It is roughly 4 m thick, constructed of rubble
masonry and faced with marble blocks. Square towers
punctuated the wall at intervals of roughly 20 m. The
fortifications were constructed toward the end of the
5th c. B.C.; during the Hellenistic period they were repaired and expanded. At this same time a ship-shed was
constructed in a natural cove adjacent to the wall along
the E side of the cape. A deep rectangular cutting ca. 21
m x 12 m can be seen extending inland from the sea.
On the sloping floor of the cutting, two slipways were
constructed to hold the ships; marble masonry originally
surrounded the cutting and supported the roof.
On the low hill N of the main sanctuary there is a
smaller temenos dedicated to Athena. Foundations of two
small Classical temples and an enclosing precinct wall
can be seen here. The larger of the two temples was built
soon after the middle of the 5th c. B.C. and dedicated
to the goddess Athena. Contrary to the normal plan of
Greek temples, the colonnade of this temple was placed
only across the front and along one side leaving the rear
and N side without columns. Originally there appear to
have been 10 columns across the front or E side and 12
columns along the S side. A small pronaos led to the
main room of the temple. The remains of the base for
the cult statue and foundations for 4 columns lie within
this room. The two marble slabs at the E end mark the
position of the threshold. Fragments of Ionic unfluted columns and various moldings of local gray-blue marble
from Agriliza were found on the site. Identical fragments have been found in the Agora in Athens; it would
appear that during the reign of the Emperor Augustus
in the 1st c. A.D. part of this temple was transported to
Athens and reerected in or near the Agora. One of the
better-preserved capitals is on display in the Agora Museum and two of the capitals are in the National Museum.
To the N of the Athena Temple are the foundations of
a smaller, later 5th c. B.C. temple. Foundations for the
two columns which originally stood along the front, the
marble threshold, the side and back walls made of local
brown stone, and the blue Eleusinian base for the cult
statue can be seen.
In the area around Sounion remains of at least five
farming establishments have been found. Their most
prominent feature is a towerlike structure, which probably served to protect both the inhabitants of the farm and the farm goods during piratical raids.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
B. Stais,
Σουνίου Ἀνασκαφαὶ,
ArchEph
(1917) 168-213; A. K. Orlandos,
Τοῦ ἐν Σουνίῳ ναοῦ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος τοῖχοι καὶ ὀροφή,
ArchEph (1917) 213-226; E.J.A. Kenny, “The Ancient Docks on the Promontory of Sounion,”
BSA 42 (1947) 194-200; J. H. Young,
“Studies in South Attica, Country Estates at Sounion,”
Hesperia 25 (1956) 122-46; W. H. Plommer, “Three
Attic Temples, Part II. The Temple of Poseidon,”
BSA
45 (1950) 78-94; W. H. Plommer, “The Temple of
Poseidon on Cape Sunium: Some Further Questions,”
BSA 55 (1960) 218-33; H. F. Mussche, “Note sur les
fortifications de Sounion,”
BCH 88 (1964) 423-32; A.
Delivorrias, “Poseidon-Tempel auk Kap Sunion. Neue
Fragmente der Friesdekoration,”
AM 84 (1969) 127-42; W. B. Dinsmoor, Jr.,
Guide to Sounion (Athens 1970); H. A. Thompson & W. B. Dinsmoor, Jr., “The Sanctuary of Athena Sounias,”
Hesperia (forthcoming).
I. M. SHEAR
