Household Gods: Private Devotion in Ancient Greece and Rome

by Alexandra Sofroniew

An intimate look at the religious objects and practices of antiquity.Daily religious devotion in the Greek and Roman worlds centered on the family and the home. Besides official worship in rural sacred areas and at temples in towns, the ancients kept household shrines with statuettes of different deities that could have a deep personal and spiritual meaning. Roman houses were often filled with images of gods. Gods and goddesses were represented in mythological paintings on walls and in decorative mosaics on floors, in bronze and marble sculptures, on ornate silver dining vessels, and on lowly clay oil lamps that lit dark rooms. Even many modest homes had one or more religious objects that were privately venerated. Ranging from the humble to the magnificent, these small objects could be fashioned in any medium from terracotta to precious metal or stone.
 
Showcasing the collections in the Getty Villa, this book’s emphasis on the spiritual beliefs and practices of individuals promises to make the works of Greek and Roman art more accessible to readers. Compelling representations of private religious devotion, these small objects express personal ways of worshiping that are still familiar to us today. A chapter on contemporary domestic worship further enhances the relevance of these miniature sculptures for modern viewers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, History, Witchcraft, Religion, Mythology

160 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2016

Reviews

[John Hoole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without putting too fine a point on the historical realities, my temperament tends more toward the devotion of the Greeks and Romans than to any of today's world religions. Greek and Roman polytheism was transactional - you sank limited time and resources into honoring a god because you expected to get something specific in return: healthy childbirth, continued success in business, victory in war. There was nothing like the endless faith Christians have to sustain or the need to prosyletize. Most of the time, nobody really gave a shit whether you worshiped their preferred god or not - being devoted to Hermes in Athens (where Athena was the hometown hero) was probably a little like being a 49ers fan in Seattle. You want to get down with a new god, even a god from a foreign land, like Isis? You can get started today and you don't even have to give up your old gods!

By way of examining art and objects bound up in Greek and Roman religion as it was practiced in individual households (especially from Pompeii, Herculaneum and other towns that were frozen in time with the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD), this book gives a fascinating view into the aspirations, culture, and domestic life of people who lived two thousand years ago.

In case you're wondering, I'm a Hestia man, myself.

[alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really informative read, read through this in a few hours. Staple for any Hellenic Polytheist. It gave me such a great comfort.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several images decorate the first pages of this book, from the beautiful one of the household shrine that we first see to a more recent interpretation of household worship and beyond. The text itself begins by referencing the Muses, with an image of Melpomene holding a tragic mask in one hand and securing a wreath upon her hand with the other, a Roman wall painting. An image of the Muse who presides over tragedy was an interesting choice for this book, and I found myself wondering whether the author intentionally chose it due to what happened abruptly in the 300s and 400s CE. What quickly follow are chapters on Hestia and Vesta — beginning with her. The book concludes by connecting ancient Greek and Roman household shrines to practices around the world today, with two images shown of Chinese and Hindu shrines and a bare mention of modern paganism and our use of household shrines. I wish that there had been more, but an entire book could be written comparing domestic shrine practices across various religions.

I thought the book was, overall, good. I loved the photographs, and it was very inspiring. Good information in the chapter where we learn that many shrines were in the kitchen (and many homes had multiple ones, with icons that could theoretically travel between them) and that kitchens were often not separated from the latrines. I do think something was missing in the author’s treatment, and it does not seem as if she engaged with or cited Andrej Petrovic and Ivana Petrovic’s work on inner purity and pollution as a proxy for getting at genuine personal beliefs among people in antiquity. It was a sort of dry irony that she let build up and spill out in some of the passages.

Highly recommend reading this.

[Dana Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small art book with basic introduction to Greek and Roman votive religion (the use of small devotional objects like statuettes). The featured objects are mostly domestic but the text also discusses the relationship of these "private" forms of worship with public and civic cult.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, if rather elementary, book on Greek and Roman household religion. I acquired it at the Getty Villa (of which it is a publication). Beautiful illustrations really bring the topic to life!

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore anything from Getty Publications. Every photo is explained and most are utilized in the text. The greatest learning for me was that the Egyptian god Isis was adopted as a Roman god. I liked the inclusion in the final chapter of the world’s tendency to private devotion, too.

[Simran Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

blocked out Religion & Woman so hard that i fully forgot i read this entire book

[Hollidaisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super informative and interesting with fantastic supporting images.