„There is no doubt that Dione, wife of Zeus in Dodona, also attested in the Homeric poems, was the second most important divinity in the sanctuary. It was thought that worship of the goddess preserved the ancient chthonic cult of Dodona. However, this theory is usually refuted in modern scholarship, since it is based on an outdated view of prehistoric societies that supposedly followed a matriarchal model with Mother Earth as the main cult. Lévêque identifies Dione with the Mycenaean term di-wi-ja, the female version of di-we, i. e., Zeus, who appears on Pylos Tn 316. The name itself, Διώνη, derives from that of the Olympian god. Another interpretation sees her as “the dove goddess”, which is attested precisely on the same tablet – pe-re-*82 = Peleia. There may even be a connection to a Theban document mentioning a pe-re-wi-jo, that is to say, “priestess of the dove goddess”. Although this last argument is disputable, the importance of doves in Dodona makes the theory feasible. It is thus very likely that Dione, the birds and the peleiades were probably connected, as the story of Herodotus concerning the foundation of the oracle suggests. However, in Greek religion at large the dove was most commonly linked to Aphrodite and many scholars tie the animal to her cult, as in the case of Aphrodite Pandemos in Athens, Aphrodisias in Caria, Corinth, Sikyon, and Cassope. … However, it is probably a mistake to assume that Aphrodite was the recipient of the female statuettes with doves on their laps and the female terracotta heads, since these objects are seen in sanctuaries of other goddesses. In the case of Dodona they seem destined primarily for Dione, although I would not discard the possibility of them being offerings to both deities at the same time. … If we keep the historical context in mind, there is a noteworthy reference in Hyperides’s speech, In Defence of Euxenippus, in which the Attic orator denounces the excessive control that Olympias, who was Molossian, had over Dodona. I have previously suggested that the temple of Dione (Z, not Γ or Θ) may be dated to this period, ca. 330. Moreover, some years ago, Cabanes noticed the strong participation of Olympias and Cleopatra in the cult of Dione. Is it possible that they themselves ordered the erection of this temple? This is what Baslez theorizes, though she does not expand the argument. One may conjecture that the power of Olympias and Cleopatra in their kingdom was remarkable. It is reasonable to think that they may have wished to demonstrate and reinforce this power by constructing a building for a cult in which they were so involved. This would have helped Olympias to counteract, or at least to control, the influence of Athens over Dodona, and, at the same time, strengthen her own policy.”
- Experiencing Dodona: The Development of the Epirote Sanctuary from Archaic to Hellenistic Times by Diego Chapinal-Heras
