POTNIA DEITIES AND RELIGION IN THE AEGEAN BRONZE AGE
Robert LaffineurPotnia has an obvious presence in Classical Greece. Equated with panhellenic goddesses,
especially Artemis as Potnia Theron, she lends her name as title to other female divinities
and mortals and even places. Potniai is the name of a Boeotian town where there is a well
whose water makes mares raving mad. 1 The variety of uses of the term is fascinating. It is
also an impediment in a search for origins. As Alan Peatfield points out in his paper in this
volume, definition can determine interpretation. Thus, if the point of departure is Potnia
theron, a mistress of animals will be the object of a search into the ancestry of Potnia. However,
beginning with Potniai in Boeotia will direct attention to the goddesses venerated there,
Demeter and Kore.