APOLLO, PLUTONE E GLI ALTRI. RITI E CULTI NELL’AREA SACRA CENTRALE DI HIERAPOLIS DI FRIGIA

Abstract

The study focuses on the multiplicity of cults and related rituals of two sanctuaries located in the central
sacred area of Hierapolis of Phrygia (near present-day Pamukkale, district of Denizli/Turkey), the sanctuary
of Apollo, the polyadic deity, and the famous Ploutonion, access to the underworld, sacred to Pluto and
Kore. Among these cults, a special place is held by the Mother, the Phrygian Cybele, who is worshipped at
the opening to the underground cavity on the seismic fault.
Among the various divinities present in the two sanctuaries are also, in that of Apollo, an Anatolian god of
the circle of the Mother, Karios, and in that of Pluto and Kore, Zeus Sabazius and Nemesis, aspects of whose
cults and rituals will be illustrated.