page_title: Charites
section_title: Cult
hierarchical_section_title: Charites / Cult
context_page_description: In Greek mythology, a Charis or Grace is one of three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility, together known as the Charites or Graces. The usual roster, as given in Hesiod, is Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. Hesiod states that Aglaea is the youngest of this group and the wife of Hephaestus. In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces". In some variants, Charis was one of the Charites, who was equated with Aglaea rather than a singular form of the name, as she too is referred to as the wife of Hephaestus.
  The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Oceanid Eurynome. Rarely, they were said to be daughters of Dionysus and Kronois or of Helios and the Naiad Aegle. Other possible names of their mother by Zeus are Eurydome, Eurymedousa, or Euanthe. Homer identified them as part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the Greek underworld and the Eleusinian Mysteries.
  In painting and sculpture, the three Charites or Graces are often depicted naked or almost naked, however, during the Archaic and Classical periods of Greece, they were typically depicted as fully clothed.
context_section_description: The cult of the Charites is very old, with their name appearing to be of Pelasgian, or pre-Greek, origin rather than being brought to Greece by Proto-Indo-Europeans. The purpose of their cult appears to be similar to that of nymphs, primary based around fertility and nature with a particular connection to springs and rivers. The one of earliest centres of worship for the Charites was the Cycladic Islands including Paros, with epigraphical evidence for a cult to the Charites dating to the 6ᵗʰ century B.C.E. on the island of Thera. Scholars have interpreted them as chthronic deities connected to fertility due to the absence of wreaths and flutes in ceremonies. An aetiological explanation for the lack of music and garlands was from a myth involving Minos. He was said to have been sacrificing to the Charites on the island of Paros when he learned of his son’s death in Athens and stopped the music and ripped off his garlands in grief. Dance, however, appears to be strongly connected with their cult, which is similar to the cults of Dionysus and Artemis.  
  Although the Charites were most commonly depicted in the sanctuaries of other gods, there were at least four temples exclusively dedicated to them in Greece. The temple regarded as their perhaps most important was that in Orkhomenos in Boeotia, where their cult was thought to have originated. There were also temples to the Charites in Hermione, Sparta, and Elis. A temple was dedicated to the Charites near the Tiasa river in Amyclae, Laconia that was reportedly founded by the ancient King of Sparta, Lacedaemon. 
  In Orkhomenos, the goddesses were worshipped at a very ancient site with a trio of stones, which is similar to other Boiotian cults to Eros and Herakles. The local river Kephisos and the Akidalia (or Argaphia) spring was sacred to the three goddesses. Orkhomenos was an agriculturally prosperous city because of the marshy Kopaic plain, and the Charites were offered a portion of the produce. Regarding the foundation of the their cult in Orkhomenos, Strabo wrote:
  "Eteokles, one of those who reigned as king at Orkhomenos, who founded a temple of the Kharites, was the first to display both wealth and power; for he honored these goddesses either because he was successful in receiving graces, or in giving them, or both. For necessarily, when he had become naturally inclined to kindly deeds, he began doing honor to these goddesses; and therefore he already possessed this power."
  In cult, the Charites were particularly connected with Apollo and appear to be connect to his cult on Delos, however, this connection is not present in other cults to Apollo. In the Classical era and beyond, the Charites were associated with Aphrodite in connection to civic matters.
caption: The Graces in a 1st-century fresco at Pompeii
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