LOUSOI
Arkadia, Greece.
Originally an independent town, it later came under the jurisdiction of
Kleitor; the site lies between the modern villages of
Sudena and Chamaku. According to one legend, it was
at a rock spring there where the daughters of Proitos were
purified and cured of madness by Melampos; in gratitude
their father established the Sanctuary of Artemis Hemerasia, which was surrounded by a deer park. A draught
of the spring water was supposed to result in a permanent
aversion to wine. Although Pausanias found nothing left
at Lousoi, 19th c. travelers reported numerous springs in
the area; excavations in 1898 uncovered a fountain-house,
bouleuterion, propylaia, and temple. These structures appeared to be of the late 4th or early 3d c. B.C. although
other finds indicated that the sanctuary had been in use as
early as the 6th.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paus. 8.18.7; J. G. Frazer,
Paus. Des.
Gr. (1898) IV 258f; W. Reichel & A. Wilhelm in
JOAI
4 (1901) 1-89
MPI; W. B. Dinsmoor,
Greek Architecture
(1950).
M. H. MCALLISTER
