La place des dieux dans la cité des hommes. Le découpage des aires sacrées dans les colonies grecques

Abstract

The Place of Gods in the City of Men How does man know where to worship his gods ? Is a « divine revelation » always a necessity ? Must the historian presuppose some syncretism or ancient tradition lost in the mists of time ? In the world of the Greek renaissance and of the founding of new poleis and colonies in terrae novae the question assumes a particular significance. This paper offers a new thesis whose implications bear on the history of Greek religion, colonization and thought. By combining literary and archaeological evidence it suggests that it was the founder himself who made the decisions about temene, about what was to be sacred ; and this : based on purely rational and functional criteria. Thus, a new attitude toward the Sacred and the gods becomes apparent.