Epilogue: A Synopsis of Searches and Findings

Abstract

This chapter provides concluding remarks for this book A Local History of Greek Polytheism: Gods, People, and the Land of Aigina, 800-400 BCE. The book has three main directions of inquiry: gods, people, and the land. The core of the book is a close-up view of the religious life in one ancient Greek community in one concrete physical setting, the Aegean island of Aigina. The central section of the book is dedicated to a detailed discussion of the data on the deities worshipped by the Aiginetans in the Archaic and Classical periods. The main focus of the book is the operating logic of ancient Greek polytheism. The author asks whether the Aiginetan deities taken together constitute a chaotic, haphazard assemblage or a coordinated whole. The book illustrates the refraction of the Greek polytheistic macrocosm.Keywords: Aegean island; Aiginetan deities; ancient Greek community; Archaic period; Classical period; Greek polytheistic macrocosm