Finally, we must also ask to what extent we can observe, beyond the analysis of specific cities, the emergence of a panhellenic identity following the great movement of Greek colonization, and what role the great panhellenic sanctuaries such as Delphi and Olympia play in this. The history of these sanctuaries is inseparably linked to the genesis of the polis and Greek colonization.
The source that truly linked all Greeks together is a passage in Herodotus' Book VIII, 144, 2. In a speech in which the inhabitants of Athens, during the winter of 480/479 BC, had implored the unity of the Greeks under threat from the Persians, Herodotus comments that they must not become traitors to the common cause of all Greeks(tò Hellenikón). Subsequently, a more precise definition of this tò Hellenikón is proposed. In addition to shared blood and a common language(hómaimón te kaí homóglosson), common sanctuaries and sacrifices(theôn hidrúmata tè koinà thysíai) are defined as characteristics of all Greeks. Moreover, this definition contains no reference to a spatial dimension. Unlike the polis - which includes a spatial dimension that was undoubtedly a determining factor in each citizen's identity - the community of citizens is not linked to a real spatial dimension. This point is of particular importance. It was through shared sanctuaries and sacrifices that the Greeks communicated with one another. These sanctuaries were - in the words of German historian Peter Funke - part of a pan-Hellenic sacred landscape. What's more, they were an integral part of the Greeks' religious idea of themselves, and existed in their imagination as a mental map. Like a network, they covered the entire Greek world, and were closely linked by cults, rites, festivals and mythical stories. So, although they didn't physically exist in the real world, they were nevertheless orientation marks in the landscape. They existed first and foremost in the imagination, and constituted a utopian homeland whose importance for Greek solidarity and self-confidence cannot be underestimated. Indeed, this significance - the formation of a mental map - is closely linked to the process of polis genesis and to the great Greek colonization. It was only when the Greeks were travelling abroad in separate groups that this system began to take shape. At the same time, it was through this system that they realized they had more in common with each other than with the populations in whose company they were living de facto. Given that these journeys lasted days, if not weeks, they are likely to have fostered solidarity between Greeks. In addition, athletes taking part in the Olympic Games would spend a month in Elis to train and, divided into teams, to take the exam to qualify for the competition. Finally, people met for rituals and festivities lasting many days. These panhellenic cults - which also included oracles and mystery cults, such as the sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona, or that of Demeter at Eleusis - were more important to panhellenic identity than the sometimes fragile political alliances and federations.
