Nyx and Archaic Traditions

In the archaic period, the first temple at Olympia was built to Hera (see upper left, Heraion). Beyond it are several old altars and a Metroön (temple of Rhea/Kybele, Mother of the Gods). Another old shrine embedded in the hillside was for Eileithyia, goddess of birth, and Sosipolis, a snake god. Only the priestess and an old woman guardian could enter the inner sanctuary of the snake. Women sang hymns and burned incense in the outer shrine. The temple of Zeus was built centuries later, and the treasuries even later. From Jane Harrison's Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion.

Nyx (Night) and Other Archaic Goddesses This is a rare picture of Nyx, the primordial goddess who bore the Moirae (Fates) and many other beings in Greek cosmogonies. She is shown as an old woman with a long diaphanous cloak that shades out most of her body, driving a chariot drawn by blck horses.
This is believed to be another image of Nyx. She wears the moon on her head and is flanked by stars. Again she drives a chariot whose horses are somewhat scrambled. Both these images evoke ambiguity and mystery.
In the archaic period, the first temple at Olympia was built to Hera (see upper left, Heraion). Beyond it are several old altars and a Metroön (temple of Rhea/Kybele, Mother of the Gods). Another old shrine embedded in the hillside was for Eileithyia, goddess of birth, and Sosipolis, a snake god. Only the priestess and an old woman guardian could enter the inner sanctuary of the snake. Women sang hymns and burned incense in the outer shrine. The temple of Zeus was built centuries later, and the treasuries even later. From Jane Harrison's Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion.
This fresco from Pompeii shows the Omphalos stone covered with a net and the Python wrapped around it. A priestess stands at left with a sacrificial bull; at right are Dionysos, Apollo, and Artemis.		Medea and witches>