Nicolette Pavlides
Research interests: Greek Religion, Hero-Cult, Sparta and the Perioikoi, Religion and Warfare
Sacred Space and Regional Connectivity in Laconia: The Temple of Apollo Hyperteleatas
The aim of the project is to investigate the regional networks in Laconia, which was under Spartan control for most of the Archaic-Hellenistic periods. The sanctuary of Apollo Hyperteleatas located by the Molaoi plain in the Malea peninsula will serve as a case study. The cult site is approached through a diachronic lens that examines its local organisation and function in the region and its relationship with human settlement, socio-political changes, and the natural landscape.
The research will enrich our knowledge of the religious practices of the perioikoi who lived in this region, and not only offer a new perspective on the local habits of the perioikoi but also a much-needed examination of Spartan-perioikic relations. I view the evidence stemming from the sanctuary in two ways: first from the top down, since Sparta controlled the region and its foreign affairs but also from the bottom up, as the local communities formed regional centres not closely monitored by Sparta.
Nicolette Pavlides is a Lecturer in Greek Art and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. She researches on the local religious tradition of Sparta and the perioikic communities of Laconia and Messenia.
Nicolette Pavlides research focuses on the local religious tradition of Sparta, in particular hero cults, as well as, more widely, on the role of sanctuaries in the relationship between Sparta and the perioikic communities living in Laconia and Messenia. She is interested in the interplay between religion and cultural memory, local identity, warfare, and politics in the Archaic and Classical Peloponnese. In her research on hero-cult, she examines the cognitive process that allows the worship of mortals. She also uses comparative material from anthropology and cognitive science to interpret a popular Spartan practice.