Valerya Lanskaya

Comparing various definitions of polis cult, the author observes that all these definitions imply that polis cults should have been financed by the state. She analyses the mechanisms of distributing money among various cults, which were divided by the Athenians into πάτριοι and ἐπίθετοι, and comes to the conclusion that in both cases the cults were supported by the money received for renting out sacred plots belonging to the state, but after the establishment of the treasury of “other gods” also by the money accumulated by the local sanctuaries, partly controlled by the demes. In conclusion, the author reconsiders the “mixed type” cults, financed partly by the families who retained a certain degree of control over the cults.