Temple of Apollonis

Located on the southern Propontis coast of modern-day northwest Turkey, Cyzicus was an important port for the rulers of Pergamon, and friendship was maintained since the beginning of the Attalid dynasty.

She also imported various aspects of Cyzicus to Pergamon, including iconography styles and political allies, creating a symbiotic exchange of material and cultural trade.

[16] The inclusion of mythology along the theme of child-parent and brotherly love in reliefs at the temple fixed the image of Apollonis and her sons in the collective memory of the Cyzicenes, and throughout the kingdom of Pergamon by way of visitors to the city.

The epigrams are hypothesized to be a stylistic experiment by a viewer of the reliefs[26] and when they do offer new details, they do so to emphasize the pathos of the filial piety and its moral and political significance, as well as to display the author's knowledge of ancient culture.

These tablets contained narrative scenes, carved in low relief, as is set out below.”[30] The first lemma, the only one deliberately unaccompanied by a poetic epigram, offers important details about the temple (at the cost of confusion over the grammar[31]).

Finally, it describes some of the architecture in the mention of stylopinakia (στυλοπινάκιον); however, this term is unique to this text and its exact definition and appearance is subject to debate, although it is largely agreed upon to be a pillar or column with some sort of carved display.

The subject matter ranges from widely-known to obscure,[38] with all depicting mythology sourced from various places in the Hellenistic Greek world,[39] establishing a pan-Mediterranean connection.

[41] The reasoning behind the myths chosen are the subject of debate; some argue that the rarity or disparity of connection between some of the stories and the Attalids or Apollonis herself reflects poorly on the themes of motherhood and brotherhood, but this ignores the fact that it is unknown which would have been popular in Cyzicus specifically, or the political implications of including certain mythical figures.

It is likely if the reliefs were truly as described, the variants chosen were due to the careful deliberation of scholars or religious officials close to the Attalids,[42] and with knowledge of the cultural network of visitors to Cyzicus.

The lemmata offer precise indications of the cardinal directions[45] (as well as a sense of movement through specific diction choices[46]), with the front of the temple agreed upon by most scholars to be facing south.