The Shrine of the Valley of the Muses: An Archaeological, Historical and Literary Topos Revisited View all posts by Yannis Kalliontzis → Citation with persistent identifier: Kalliontzis, Yannis. “The Shrine of the Valley of the Muses: An Archaeological, Historical and Literary Revisited.” CHS Research Bulletin 8 (2020). http://nrs.harvard.edu /urn-3:hlnc.essay:KalliontzisY.The_Shrine_of_the_Valley_of_the_Muses.2020 Sometimes the biggest discoveries in ancient studies are hiding in places that are already considered fully excavated. The study of old material kept in chaotic storerooms is sometimes very rewarding. One excellent example of this phenomenon is the sanctuary of the Muses in the Valley of the Muses in Ascra in Boiotia in Central Greece near the great mountain of Helicon. This sanctuary acquired a particular fame during antiquity. This fame was based on the works of the great epic poet Hesiod. Hesiod lived in the small city of Ascra near Helicon and the Valley of the Muses and was, according to his own testimony in the Theogony, a shepherd who was inspired by the Muses in the Helicon and who began to produce his magnificent poetry. The fame of Hesiod contributed to the creation of an important sanctuary of the Muses at Helicon that attracted pilgrims from all the Greek world. The festival of the Mouseia in honor of the Muses and of the Erotideia in honor of Eros became important. It is not easy to say when the contest of the Mouseia was established since we have some allusions that a contest already existed in the 4 th century. But the Mouseia attracted participants from all over the Greek world. The Mouseia were mainly poetical and musical contests that were celebrated in the theater of the sanctuary. The sanctuary continued to be important during late antiquity, but in the fourth century the progress of Christianization limited its importance. In a characteristic move, the emperor Constantine took a group of bronze statues of the Muses to Constantinople in order to decorate his new capital. And as we will see, an early Christian church was built upon the ruins of the altar of the Muses. The sanctuary was forgotten during the medieval period and its region was partly abandoned. But the mentions of the sanctuary in classical writers attracted many European travelers already in the 18th century. After many attempts, the position of the sanctuary was securely established at the middle of the 19th century by Greek, German and French travelers and archaeologists. They found that many inscriptions mentioning the muses were built into the small church of Agia Trias, in the Valley of the Muses. The first excavations that confirmed the exact position were conducted in 1870s. But the first systematic excavations began at the end of the 19th century by the French School at Athens. Paul Jamot, who was then a young member of the French School, excavated in the Valley for many months during the period from 1888 to 1890. The Shrine of the Valley of the Muses: An Archaeological, Historical and Literary Topos Revisited http://www.chs-fellows.org/2020/03/30/shrine-valley-of-the-muses/ 1 από 7 25/6/2020, 10:58 π.μ.