TheAnakeion orAnacaeum (from the GreekἈνάκειον), also known as the Sanctuary of theDioskouroi, was a temple inAthens, which was situated near theAcropolis and dedicated toCastor and Pollux.[1]: 20
The name of the temple derives from the GreekἌνακες (an archaic form ofἄνακτες, "lords" or "kings"), the title by which the Dioskouroi, Castor and Pollux, twin sons ofZeus andLeda, were commonly known inAttica.[2]: 80–81
The Old Agora, the predecessor of theClassical Agora, was used in the fifth century and before as a rallying point, and references inAndokides andThucydides to musters at the Anakeion in 415 and 411 BCE have led scholars to conclude that the Anakeion may have lain within the vicinity of the Old Agora, perhaps to the east of the Acropolis.[3]: 295–297 [nb 1]
The decoration of the Anakeion, according toPausanias, fell toMikon andPolygnotos. The former depicted theArgonauts, the followers ofJason, with particular attention toAkastos and his horses. Polygnotos depicted theRape of the Leukippides: the forcible abduction and marriage ofPhoebe andHilaeira, daughters ofLeukippos, by the Dioskouroi.[4]: 1.18.1 This painting may have earned him his Athenian citizenship.[2]: 1212
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