This is a bit like what song the siren sang? Who knows. An altar would only be there if sacrifices of some kind would have been made. Perhaps its a romantic view but burnt offerings would rather destroy the peace of the grove. We need to mount an expedition to excavate the site and find cult objects. O hang on Scheria is "unreal" in a fictional account...seanjonesbw wrote:Yes point taken about the reader's perspective. I suppose in a roundabout way I was asking whether there might have been an Athena-specific altar or one of those carved shrines that Pausanias seems to come across everywhere he visits (admittedly in a different millennium).
We have the text and your imagination. I think that's enough!
Interestingly enough in line 6.9-10 we learn that Nausithous had
ἀμφὶ δὲ τεῖχος ἔλασσε πόλει, καὶ ἐδείματο οἴκους,
καὶ νηοὺς ποίησε θεῶν, καὶ ἐδάσσατ ̓ ἀρούρας
Hainsworth describes the "νηοὺς" as "an inadvertent anachronism, since monumental buildings are evidently intended. Homeric worship (sic) is normally performed at altars in the open air, eg 3.5 ff."
Garvie says "the building of temples is significant; for temples rarely appear in Homer. That they belong to a recent stage in the epic tradition is consistent with the archaeological evidence. " Perhaps we should be excavating on Corfu as he also says "Corcyra [is] traditionally identified with Scheria". (see also Thuc. 1.25.4)
Interesting question Sean but I am not sure we can answer it.