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Civic Rites: Democracy and Religion in Ancient Athens
This book makes a strong case for the importance of religious practices in Classical Athens, showing how thoroughly ritual was integrated into the city's democratic institutions and civic life. To this end Nancy Evans takes an in depth look at the cults of Athena, Demeter and Dionysus and the festivals and games associated with them. Writing for the general reader as well as the scholar, she reconstructs the rhythms of Athenian life and the omnipresence of ritual, sacrifice and incantation in both public and private spheres. Building on this picture of the broad institutional importance of religion, she goes on to provide detail of the religious backdrop to many of the key events of the Athenian Classical age, including Alcibiades' profaning of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and most notoriously, the trial of Socrates.
296 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2010
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August 29, 2022
This was a really nice hidden gem. Academic depth but highly readable. Assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and written with a storyteller’s skill. Covers many of the most interesting parts of ancient Greek history – the heyday of philosophers, the Peloponnesian and Persian Wars.
When the subtitle says religion, it’s not about Greek mythology. It’s about practical religion. How did the actual Athenians practice their religion in daily life? What were their customs and festivals like, and how did these relate to their sociology and politics?
Greek religion was not mainly about belief. It was more about social function, ritual, and cultural identity. Athenians had to participate in public rituals in order to establish their citizenship. There was no religious liberty or separation of church and state, even though Athens was kind of democracy.
The above is what the book covers. What follows is my reflection on it.
In the way described above (no separation of church and state, ritual-based religion integrated with cultural identity), the worldview of Athens was fundamentally similar to other Greek city-states and other contemporary cultures. This makes me think the Greek contribution to modern understandings of democracy is overstated.
It doesn’t take that much creativity to move from a monarchy to a ruling council. Athenian society was highly stratified, aristocratic, and built on slavery. Only freeborn male citizens participated in the democracy.
Plural leadership and collaborative decision making is one thing (and not necessarily incompatible with totalitarianism). True personal autonomy and individual liberty is something else entirely, and that is unquestionably the heritage of Christianity rather than Athenian democracy. The Apostle Paul bringing the Gospel to Greece did more to change the trajectory of Western civilization than did the Spartans at Thermopylae.
When the subtitle says religion, it’s not about Greek mythology. It’s about practical religion. How did the actual Athenians practice their religion in daily life? What were their customs and festivals like, and how did these relate to their sociology and politics?
Greek religion was not mainly about belief. It was more about social function, ritual, and cultural identity. Athenians had to participate in public rituals in order to establish their citizenship. There was no religious liberty or separation of church and state, even though Athens was kind of democracy.
The above is what the book covers. What follows is my reflection on it.
In the way described above (no separation of church and state, ritual-based religion integrated with cultural identity), the worldview of Athens was fundamentally similar to other Greek city-states and other contemporary cultures. This makes me think the Greek contribution to modern understandings of democracy is overstated.
It doesn’t take that much creativity to move from a monarchy to a ruling council. Athenian society was highly stratified, aristocratic, and built on slavery. Only freeborn male citizens participated in the democracy.
Plural leadership and collaborative decision making is one thing (and not necessarily incompatible with totalitarianism). True personal autonomy and individual liberty is something else entirely, and that is unquestionably the heritage of Christianity rather than Athenian democracy. The Apostle Paul bringing the Gospel to Greece did more to change the trajectory of Western civilization than did the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Displaying 1 of 1 review