Extract

Stories of the power of the gods were common throughout antiquity, many of them rooted in personal devotion, as appears, for instance, from votive inscriptions expressing gratitude for a miraculous recovery. A large group is linked with particular cults and cult places allegedly founded following miraculous deeds by the deity involved, who thus showed his/her divine power. Early instances can be found in the Homeric*hymns, for example those to *Dionysus, *Demeter, and *Apollo. From the 4th cent. bce onwards there is a rapid increase in miracle-stories, and the connection with *epiphany receives ever more emphasis. Under the title Epiphaneiai collections of miracles abounded, the term ἐπιφάνεια signifying both the appearance and the miraculous deeds of the god; see epiphany. Among the epigraphic evidence the miracles performed by *Asclepius in Epidaurus (4th cent. bce) are particularly significant. Slightly earlier, literature reveals a new impetus in the Bacchae of *Euripides.