Ancient Greek Religion Research Articles

The Cult of the Apollonian and the Dionysian in Ancient Greek Religion as Reflected in Edith Wharton’s Novels

The two basic conflicting forces throughout Wharton’s tragic novels have a great affinity with the cult of the Apollonian and Dionysian in ancient Greek religion and in Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy. On the one hand, it is the Apollonian ideal of civilized society and individual restraint, which is a beautiful illusion maintained in a bright appearance. When it encounters Dionysus, it is its defensive social rules, the social restrictions, and oppression it imposes on individuals; on the other hand, it is the awakening of Dionysian primitive passion, which tears off the social and individual protective veil of Apollo and reaches the Dionysian tragic cognition at the root of existence, requiring breaking social barriers and indulging the vitality of primitive nature. In this paper, the cult of the Apollonian and Dionysian in ancient Greek religion and as defined by Nietzsche in his The Birth of Tragedy is used to analyze the inner conflicts in the protagonists of Wharton’s tragic novels and the patterns of tragedy in each of her studied novels. Through such archetypal criticism of religious cults in Wharton’s major works, this paper attempts to refute most of the negative criticism of her novels.

How about Pantheism in Ancient Greek Religion?

Abstract Ancient Greek religion has been very rarely studied with reference to pantheism. This article proposes that we should introduce pantheism as an additional interpretive strategy to understand Greek religion. This presupposes addressing the relationship between the interpretations of doxa (theology), discussion about the nature of divine unity in antiquity (philosophy), and religious cult praxis. The main conceptual arguments underlined in refutations of pantheism are discussed. This is followed by a brief survey of the more frequently discussed monotheism and henotheism in Greek religion. The main part of the article presents pantheistic trends in Greek religion, including philosophical argumentation, pantheistic expressions in mythology and in cultic life. It is found that Greek religion exhibits views that can be regarded as pantheistic: gods were immanent rather than transcendent, everything could potentially participate in divine reality, and the boundaries between divine, human, and nature were not exclusive but permeable and fluid.

Greek Deities as Single or Plural Figures?

Greek deities are a valuable touchstone for assessing the opposite or complementary notions of ‘unity and diversity‘, and the same issue could have been be raised from the perspective of sacrificial ritual. In the context of ancient Greek religion, but also of Greek culture as a whole, no generalizing statement can be made without testing it against the fragmented evidence from several hundred cities. Some scholars have therefore come to consider that we should speak of ‘Greek religions’ in the plural in order to reflect the fragmentation, considering both the representation of the gods and the rituals performed in their honour. Focusing on the divine world, this paper asks the question: which dimension prevails in the (ancient as well as modern) way of dealing with a Greek deity, the apparent unity given by its theonym or the diversity of its cultplaces, images, cult-titles, etc.? The argument here is for addressing together unity and diversity, singleness and plurality when studying Greek gods.

Ancient Greek Religion Seen Through Data Science – From Biographies of Things and Places to Understanding Ritual, Society and the Imagination of the Divine

Ancient Greek Religion Seen Through Data Science – From Biographies of Things and Places to Understanding Ritual, Society and the Imagination of the Divine

Genealogies in Antique Mythography and Works of Early Christian Appologists: Features of the Rhetorical Context

Ancient Literature contains diverse genealogies of characters which played an important role in religious cult and culture in general – in Ancient Greek Religion they were heroes, whereas in Early Christianity characters of The Scripture. The current article presents comparison of approaches to the interpretation and genealogy construction in ancient mythography and Early Christian Literature of apologetic in the period of II–III AC. The genre of ancient mythography represents texts heterogeneous in form, united by mythological content. However, an important feature of this type of literature is that it combines the antiquarian, historical, artistic and religious motives of the author in different proportions. This combination can be demonstrated by the example of the work of mythographers with the genealogies of heroes preserved in literature and oral tradition. At the same time, many early Christian authors, for their apologetic purposes, dealt with the problems of history and in one way or another addressed the problem of harmonization of genealogies, and the main genealogical problem for them was the genealogy of Jesus. The author of the article considers mythography as a literary and historical context for the establishment and justification of certain versions of the origin of Jesus. This study discovers common ways of modification of pedigree versions of Greek heroes and Jesus in both types of literature respectively. Due to this it is proposed to expand the scope of the concept of “mythographic discourse”, which was introduced in modern scholarly literature to characterize the subgenre of ancient rhetoric, on the Early Christian Literature of the Late Antiquity.

Transreligiosity and Religious Revitalization in Modern Greece: Bridging Religion and Science through Geomythology

This article examines the revitalization of the ancient Greek religion in modern Greece and the way some of its adherents approach mythology. This religious movement challenges the dominant religious discourse in modern Greece by claiming legitimacy through indigeneity, while making important arguments regarding the perceived spiritual and value crisis in their culture. At a time that right-wing extremisms and fundamentalisms are rising globally, this religious movement places emphasis on worldview and imagines a kind of citizen who engages with universal ideals while maintaining a strong connection to a unique ethnic identity. At the same time, Ethnikoi Hellenes challenge prevailing understandings of religion by making ‘logos’ or reason central to their theology. Thus, they challenge the association of Indigenous religions with “irrationality”, while pointing out the inconsistencies and irrationalities of monotheistic religions, which they consider responsible for the widespread “cultural” crisis facing humanity. The example of one group’s engagement with geomythology has been used to demonstrate that they do not conceive religion and science as contradictory but complementary, thus exhibiting transreligiosity.

Animals in Ancient Greek Religion

Animals in Ancient Greek Religion

Historical issues of hydrotherapy in thermal–mineral springs of the Hellenic world

Many springs have been recorded in Greece; some of them are characterized as thermo-mineral springs and are associated with their position between Eurasia and Africa, the volcanic activity, and the presence of tectonic faults. The therapeutic use of water (hydrotherapy) has been recorded in ancient Greece since at least 1000 BC. Asclepius was the god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and priests operated his worship centers (Asclepieia) offering medical services in areas with proper climatic conditions. In historical times, Hippocrates from the Aegean island of Kos (460–375 BC) is considered the father of scientific medicine as well as hydrotherapy. During the Hellenistic period, the significance of water in health was widely recognized. In the Roman era, many doctors evolved hydrotherapy treatment and the use of hot baths continued in the early Byzantine period until the sixth century AD. Finally, during the Ottoman period, the kind of respiratory bath, named Hamam, was the dominant form in public baths. Their temperature ranges between 20.5 and 83 °C, and the dominant hydrochemical type is Na-Cl. This review describes the history of hydrotherapy in Greece through the centuries, the physicochemical characteristics of thermal springs, as well as contemporary and future trends and challenges are presented.

Asking Old Questions Anew: On the “History” of “Religions”

By taking Hesiod's work from the subfield known as “ancient Greek religion” as both its starting point and case study, this article utilizes the work of Bruce Lincoln to demonstrate that, despite the contrary arguments, the role of history in the study of religion remains central, necessary, and frankly a prerequisite for a sober academic study of religions past and present. Therefore, by resorting to Lincoln's foundational work for a critical study of religion that does not negate the phenomenon itself but clearly indicates that it is a historical, human, and thereby examinable phenomenon—rather than an ahistorical, sui generis, and therefore non‐empirical one—the article attempts to ask questions that seemingly seem outdated but have been inadequately addressed, or consciously avoided, by contemporary scholars of religion. Three core questions are briefly examined: Is religion the topic of investigation in a given text? When working with historical textual sources, do we have a way to determine the content and aim of the author(s)? And, lastly, given that all our language is ultimately anachronistic, must historians of religions find other ways to approach religions of the past?

Normativizing Ancient Greek Religion: Lament as Blasphemy in Plato’s Laws

Normativizing Ancient Greek Religion: Lament as Blasphemy in Plato’s <i>Laws</i>

The Ancient Greek Pharmakos Rituals

Abstract This article examines the role of mistrust – especially in constructions of purity, impurity, and purification – in ancient Greek religion. It begins by examining so-called scapegoat or pharmakos rituals, in which an individual was expelled from the city, apparently as a purificatory offering to the gods. Recent analyses have argued that these rituals were outlets for community aggression, and/or were resonant with myths of self-sacrifice. This article will suggest a different analysis of the evidence. I offer an alternative way of interpreting these rituals that sets them in a wider context of Greek ritual and belief: it suggests that the ritual of the pharmakos arose in a context of social and spiritual insecurity. This created, I argue, a prevailing dynamic of social and spiritual mistrust, within which the pharmakos ritual emerged – and which it exacerbated.

THE SACRED POWER OF FAT AND HONEY IN SAN AND ANCIENT GREEK MYTH AND RITUAL

In this paper, I attempt a comparison between the sacred significance of fat and honey in the myths and rituals of the San peoples of southern Africa and the ancient Greeks. As Biesele (1993) and Lewis-Williams (2015) have convincingly demonstrated, the creation narratives of the diverse linguistic groups which constitute the /Xam (San) peoples of southern Africa, arguably the first peoples to call this country ‘home’, reveal strong links between the gathering and possession of animal fat and honey, and access to spiritual power. In ancient Greek mythology, as is well known from Callimachus and many later texts (e.g., Apollodorus and Nonnus), the infant Zeus was fed on honey by the bee-woman, Melissa. Many fundamental rites in ancient Greek religion, as reflected in texts from Homer onwards—libations, some sacrifices, ritual offerings such as the ‘panspermia’, and funerary rites—all provide evidence of the Greek belief in the spiritual potency of fat and honey. I thus analyse the similarities and differences between the significance of the fat-honey nexus in these two religious traditions and reflect on cross-cultural comparisons, their history, and their purpose in contemporary South Africa.

The Origin and Formation of the Image of the Goddess Athena within the Olympian Pantheon

The article considers the formation of the image of the goddess Athena as a member of the Olympian pantheon of gods. It should be noted that many aspects of ancient Greek religion and mythology still remain controversial. In particular, while the historiographical tradition has dwelled in relative detail on the cult of the goddess Athena and the Panathenaea, the essential origins of her image and theonym remain less studied and open to question. However, the investigation of this issue can help trace the transformation of the image of the goddess and determine her role and place among the Olympian gods. Analysis of the sources suggests that the image of the goddess Athena is quite ancient and dates back to the Cretan-Mycenaean era, while the theonym itself, according to linguistic analysis, is of Indo-European origin. Already in the Mycenaean period, the goddess was well known to the ancient Greek population; cities were named after her. The sources show an essential affinity between the image of the goddess Athena and the Minoan supreme female deity – here one can cite in particular the traces of zoomorphism in descriptions of her appearance and her association with the aegis – goat-skin shield. Statues depicting a goddess holding snakes have also been found in Crete, and most Greek myths register a close connection between Athena and snakes. This becomes more convincing when we consider the functional similarity between the Minoan deity and Athena proper. Further, the author offers an archetype analysis of the image of the goddess, highlighting such archetypes as the warrior, patroness of women’s and men’s crafts, and the personification of wisdom. Archetype analysis plays a supporting role in the article, making it possible to investigate the evolution of the functional characteristics of the goddess. Thus we can say that, although the theonym of the goddess is of Indo-European origin, the essential roots of her image go back to the Minoan religion.

ANIMALS IN ANCIENT GREEK RELIGION. Edited by JuliaKindt. London and New York: Routledge, 2021. Pp. xv + 304; figures. Hardcover, $160.00.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 47, Issue 3 p. 374-374 Short Reviews of Recent Publications: Greece, Rome and Greco-Roman Period ANIMALS IN ANCIENT GREEK RELIGION. Edited by Julia Kindt. London and New York: R outledge, 2021. Pp. xv + 304; figures. Hardcover, $160.00. First published: 30 October 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.15375Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume47, Issue3September 2021Pages 374-374 RelatedInformation

Religion without doctrine or clergy: the case of Ancient Greece

AbstractThe paper examines doctrinal and political reasons to explain why the Ancient Greek religion did not feature a distinct class of professional priests as suppliers of religious goods. Doctrinal reasons relate to worshiping a multitude of powerful anthropomorphic gods with flawed characters; absence of a founder of religion and of a scripture; lack of religious doctrine and of a code of moral behaviour and piety manifested as mass participation in rituals. These factors denied religious suppliers the opportunity to form a monopoly acting as an autonomous intermediary between humans and gods. Political reasons relate to the supremacy of the demos which watchfully guarded its decision-making powers and prevented other actors like a priestly interest group to challenge its authority.

Valenţe creatoare ale femininului ancorate în sfera sacrului. Contextualizări religios-culturale europene şi orientale

The paper elaborates on feminine images of the sacred. It aims to show the manner in which feminine specificities are connected to the realm of the sacred within the Eastern Christianity, the ancient Greek religion and in some forms of Hinduism. The emphasis will be placed on the commonalities, as well as the contextual dissimilarities between the different cultural and religious spaces under consideration. The aim of the present paper is to elicit a better understanding of the feminine, along with its creative manifestations, and of the unparalleled complexity of the sacred, as well.

Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion. Edited by EstherEidinow, JuliaKindt and RobinOsborne. Pp. xvii, 423, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Classical Studies), 2016, £74.99.

Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion. Edited by EstherEidinow, JuliaKindt and RobinOsborne. Pp. xvii, 423, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Classical Studies), 2016, £74.99.

Shedding Light on the Matter: Evaluating Changing Patterns of Object Dedication in Ionian Sanctuaries (7th/6th – 5th/4th centuries BC) with Lexicometrical Analysis

Reconstructing moments in ancient history is done most effectively when we draw together different types of evidence. Particularly given the fragmentary and random shape of our datasets, many scholars would agree that it is important to combine material – and sometimes patterns only become visible when we do so in new and experimental ways. As scholarship on ancient Greek religion has become increasingly interdisciplinary in recent years, many scholars have brought together datasets long studied separately – the material evidence by archaeologists and anthropologists, and the texts by philologists and philosophers – now is a prime-time to cross-pollenate different types of evidence on a much broader scale. This paper proposes that by bringing together types of evidence that might usually be kept apart and by applying new methodologies, we can shed further light on certain ancient socio-cultural phenomena.

Chronicler of Chersonesos: 70 Years Since Vitalii Mykhailovych Zubar Was Born

The paper presents an analysis of research and creative works of Vitalii Mykhailovych Zubar in field of history and archaeology of the Northern Black Sea region. A special attention is paid to his study of spiritual culture of the population of Tauric Chersonesos. V. M. Zubar with his works put the study of religious life of Chersonesos’ habitants at a new level. He studied separate aspects of religion, worked on problems of both certain deities’ cults, and certain traces of religious practice. His active participation in the discussion of the supreme goddess of Chersonesos worth mentioning. This cult was always obtaining the greatest attention of the scholars. The most important was taking these aspects into a single whole which resulted in publication generalizing and later popular scientific works. Vitalii Mykhailovych has put the study of Chersonesian necropolis on a substantially new level. The precise recording of the burial practices, the classifications of burial structures and inventory, etc. can be found in the works of scholars studying the necropolis for more than hundred years. However, the directly related issue of religious beliefs represented in these features was not in fact discussed before V. M. Zubar. In addition, he managed to put closer the studies in early Christianity and the research of Ancient Greek religion, in fact, to develop the common points in Classical and Byzantine studies. In his works on spread of Christianity in Chersonesos and in Taurica in general, he paid an exceptional attention to Ancient heritage in forming of the early Christian tradition in the region. Owing to V. M. Zubar’s works, his numerous papers and books, the Ukrainian Classical school consolidated, especially in its approach to the study of classical monuments without a constant binding to the theory of the Barbarians’ influence on the Greeks in the North Pontic region. This approach allowed him to make significant progressive steps in the study of this region’s monuments. The issues listed, as well as many others discussed by this researcher, form his scientific heritage, the true chronicle which needs to be further studied and comprehended.

Roots ancient or medieval? Nikolaos Politis, modern Greek folklore studies and ancient Greek religion

The question posed by the title can be reformulated in the following manner: to what extent has it been possible or desirable to connect modern Greek customs with ancient ones? not customs in general, but more precisely religious customs. Greek folklore studies typically begin with Nikolaos Politis, professor at the University of Athens, the first to introduce the term λαογραφία (meaning “folklore studies”) towards the end of the nineteenth century. Yet, we need to revert to at least as far back as the time prior to the Greek Revolution, that is, the period of the Greek enlightenment, in order to trace the beginnings of the shaping of the ideological framework of modern Greek folklore studies. it is well known and has aptly been pointed out, also in connection with Greek folklore studies, that for the Greeks the enlightenment movement went hand in hand with a specific form of romanticism. The Greek idea of the nation developed within the framework of the Romantic movement and on the basis of the connection between “us” and “the ancients”. How, then, were modern Greek folk customs that were not firmly related to the orthodox church incorporated in this new cultural narrative?