'Chrysis the Hiereia having placed a lighted torch near the garlands then fell asleep' (Thucydides iv.133.2): Priestesses serving the gods and goddesses in Classical Greece

Abstract

While there were many priesthoods and priestesshoods in ancient Greek cities such as Athens, there was in no sense a collective organisation of these. Most priestesshoods in ancient Greece (the sources, as usual, focus on Athens) had originated in pre-democratic days as aristocratic dominances of various cults. There was no official attempt to ensure that all the gods were worshipped, as there was no need to do so, because the gods and goddesses since the misty past had had their priests and priestesses. These cult personnel were responsible for the correct and traditional worship of deities.