Glossary Religion and cult
Chthonic
Of the earth or the underworld; used of gods, cults and rites concerned with the dead and with what lies below the ground.
The term is common in older Cypriot scholarship. Porphyrios Dikaios read the snakes modelled on Early Bronze Age vessels from Vounous as signs of a chthonic cult of the dead. Later work is more cautious: several of the 'snakes' have no heads and may be rope ends. Horse figurines placed in Iron Age tombs have also been read as chthonic, as guides of the dead to the afterlife.
Related terms
- Grave goods
Objects placed with the dead at burial, such as pots, tools, weapons, jewellery and food.
- Apotropaic
Meant to turn away evil or harm; said of amulets, images and signs thought to protect the person who wore or owned them.