Abstract

The article finalizes the study of the erotic pre-wedding ritual of the mysteries of Artemis in ancient Mytilene. Comparative analysis of epigraphic, literary and new archaeological data shows that the Sapphic girls during this ritual seem to have sacrificed their virginity to the goddess Artemis, Fr. 114 Campbell; SEG XX 717, 84–97; IG XII 255; Ps.-Aeschin. 10 etc.). In this case, the older girls in the course of these mysteries of Artemis seem to have acted as Hermes, the phallic deity of fertility. New archaeological discoveries, made in Klopedi, also testify in favor of this hypothesis.