Mythical claims of kinship between Athens and the Ionians: Religious policy in Delian-Athenian League

For the modern reader, myths and legends have little to do with reality; for Greek society and politics in the 5th century, however, the situation was quite different. At that time, there was scarcely any clear distinction between myths and historical reality. This paper examines three myths and the events closely associated with them in terms of their significance for Athenian propaganda. The central question is whether and how the Athenians sought, with the aid of myths, to forge a sense of community between themselves and their allies - who largely belonged to the Ionian ethnos - and thereby to strengthen the ideological foundation of the Delian-Athenian League. The period under investigation extends from the Conference of Samos in 479 BC to the end of the Kimonian era. In this context, the author puts forward the thesis that, in this initial phase of the League, there was not one Athens but two: one was the mother city of the Ionians, whilst the other was the glorious city of Theseus. Ultimately, there was a vast gulf between the Athenians' own perception of themselves and the image they projected to the outside world.