The Locrian Maidens

The Locrian Maidens have been the topic of discussion for the depiction of young women in the service of Athena. In the literary sources, a pair of young maidens are described as traveling to Troy in order to propitiate the goddess in response to a plague which had fallen upon the city of Locris. The gods had caused this as a result of the sacrilegious actions of Ajax the Lesser, the leader of the Oilean Greeks. This man had raped Cassandra in the Temple of Athena, and exclaimed himself superior than the gods. The description of the maidens is not uniform however and has led to various conclusions about the beginning of this practice and the duration of their service. In both cases, the voyage of maidens from Opuntian Locris to Troy marked an act of separation from the community. As the custom can be seen as an evolution from lifelong service to an annual replacement, the Locrian Maidens performed the equivalent of prenuptial marriage rites in their journey to and return from Asia Minor. This website features the myth, history, and ritual of the Locrian Maidens in order to demonstrate the maidens’ separation from society as an act of initiation for women.

Site Map 

Who were the Locrians?

The Myth of the Locrian Maidens

The Extended History - A Plague upon Locris

In Service to Athena

The Archaeology - Evidence for Maidens at Troy

The Ritual - Maidens as Brides