ABSTRACT
The group of cult practices dedicated to the different divinities of ancient Greece constitutes a very complex category; these practices are organized around a given system and grouped according to rules and exceptions in accordance with the expressions of a polytheistic culture. This cultural plurality concerns not only ritual practices but also the types of divinities which were honoured by the Greeks. This chapter focuses on the ten books of Pausanias' Description of Greece, because this work presents the widest range of cults in ancient Greek places, and reflects Pausanias' particular interest in local cults and myths, historic memories and religious traditions. The Spartans famously consulted the Delphic oracle about fetching the bones of Orestes, who was buried in Tegea, after the conquest of Arcadia. The Athenians fetched the bones of Theseus, who was buried in Skyros, and created ritual celebrations in honour of their national hero, who symbolized Athenian democracy.
