Speaking Louder with the Eyes: Eye-shaped Ex-Votos in Context

This chapter looks at eye-shaped votives and in particular, eye-shaped votives found not in sanctuaries of deities who were traditionally thought of as presiding over illness and healing, but in sanctuaries dedicated to Demeter and Kore. These eyeshaped anatomical votives are conceived as exceptionally 'difficult' art objects, which were intentionally made to oscillate between anatomical votives and mementos of the dedicants' participation in the goddesses' secret rites.