PHILOSOPHERS’ PATH OR CULT ROAD? THE PERIPATOS ON THE SLOPES OF THE AKROPOLIS AND LYKOURGOS’ POLICY OF RENEWAL

Abstract

The Peripatos, the pathway that encircles the slopes of the Athenian Akropolis, was renovated in the late fourth century bc under Lykourgos. The crucial question concerning this somewhat neglected but important path is whether it was simply a walkway, perhaps built for philosophers of the school of Aristotle, who taught their lessons while walking, or whether this pathway had a specific cultic function. This paper gathers arguments for a cultic interpretation of the Peripatos. On this view, the pathway and its renovation were important because only the Peripatos offered access to several minor sanctuaries on the slopes of the Akropolis as well as the Aglaureion, the sanctuary where the ephebes swore their oath, a crucial institution for Lykourgos’ reforms.