Areios Pagos

What I can see

The Supreme Court (Areios Pagos) is located northwest of the Acropolis. The word “pagos” means “rock” in ancient Greek and comes from the verb “pignymi” meaning “to drive into- become rigid”, deriving from the myth, in which the god Ares (Mars) thrust his spear into the ground. According to another version, it is associated with the phrase “soma pepigos”, which means solid body. Some believe that the word “Areios” derives from the name of the ancient god Ares (Mars). A second theory claims that the first sacrifice was made in Athens by the Amazons, in honour of Ares. A third theory however, claims that this area used to be a sanctuary for the Ares, deities chasing murderers like the Erinyes.

What I can't see

During the Mycenaean era, it served as a meeting point for the heads of townships and administrative regions. During the era of democracy, the administrative and judicial powers “passed” to Heliaia, the Vouli (Parliament) and the Ecclesia (Assembly). The juristiction of Areios Pagos was limited to murder trials. Pausanias mentions the existence of two stones: a) the “hybris stone” where the accused would stand on, and b) the “anaideia stone”, meaning the stone of the ruthless one, where the accuser stood on. The same body was responsible for the trials of religious issues and foreign cults. According to the tradition and the Oresteia of Aeschylus, here it is where Orestes was put on trial for the murder of his mother Clytemnestra and was acquitted with the vote of the goddess Athena. Moreover, the broader area of Areios Pagos was densely populated, in fact it belonged to the Municipality of Meliti, one of the most populous and aristocratic municipalities of the city.

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