Religions of the Ancient Greeks

Key Themes in Ancient History

by Simon Price

This is a book about the religious life of the Greeks from archaic times to the fifth century AD, looked at in the context of a variety of different cities and periods. Simon Price examines local practices and concepts in the light of general Greek ideas, relating them to such issues as gender roles, political life, and the trial of Socrates. He lays emphasis on the reactions to Greek religions of ancient thinkers--Greek, Roman and Christian. The evidence drawn on is of all literary, inscriptional and archaeological.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Classics

217 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 1999

Reviews

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scattered notes:

-Sanctuaries range from Panhellenic to civic to more local
-worship often included local variants of myths
-there was a detailed religious calendar for each city-state detailing when festivals were set and how long (sometimes weeks)
-festivals included animal sacrifice, processions, athletic contests, theatre, and singing, depending on the festival
-temples and sanctuaries were located inside cities for deities and rite closely connected with urban life, just outside cities for more peripheral rites, and in rural areas and on borders to mark boundaries
-sanctuaries and temples varied widely in size, most were not imposing structures, but some like the Acropolis and the Samian temple of Hera were very breathtaking
-sanctuaries took a wide variety of forms, from the typical columnar buildings, to dirt mounds on top of mountains (Zeus Lykaios), caves (Pan), woods or terraces.
-sanctuaries and temples often included multiple shrines, statutes and sacred objects, even for multiple gods (e.g. the Erektheion on the Acropolis)
-Temples often had a statue of the god in precious materials, and many votive offerings
-Dedications were usually made by rich citizens, some temples such as for Asclepius had wider offerings such as stone and clay figurines
-Panhellenic sanctuaries would have have treasuries supplied by other states as gifts
-Altars were the most important part of sanctuaries, situated outside of the temples (dwelling place of the god)
-Temples were expensive to build and maintain, sometimes supplied their costs through gifts and taxation, but mostly through the leasing of sacred land (owned by the god), keeping the money inside the temple. Could be used sometimes by the state so long as it was paid back with interest.
-Priests were typically not full-time professionals but were seen as essential to state functions and rituals, one of the few public offices women could hold
-Interpreters of religious law also important
-Oracles, at Delphi and elsewhere were commonly consulted by every state of Greece, with a decline from the Archaic to Classical ages
-Times of civic and political change were often accompanied by reorganization of religious ritual while reaffirming the importance of tradition
-Religious threats (defacement of herms, profanation of mysteries) were treated harshly and seen as connected to threats toward the state
-Girls and boys had different trajectories in life with different participation in rituals, sometimes sex exclusive (girls "playing the bear" for Artemis, women celebrating the Thesmophoria, men sacrificing to Zeus Ktesios) or unisex (initiation into the Elusinian mysteries)
-Birth, marriage and death not typically accompanied by important religious rituals
-Tablets dedicated to cthonic gods asking for curses on one's enemies were fairly commonly
-Eleusinian mysteries offered a slightly more hopeful expectation of special treatment in the afterlife
-In addition to the obligatory state and local cults, there were also voluntary/elective cults, such as to Asclepius, or to rare foreign gods (ex. Sabazios)
-Dionysus had both civic and elective cults
-He also figured prominently in alternate cosmologies: from the Derveni papyrus: Night -> Ouranos -> Kronos -> Zeus, who swallows Protogonos/Phanes/Metis, enveloping the universe and recreating it, then creating Aphrodite from his semen.
-Rhapsodies: Expands Derveni cosmology, with Zeus fathering Dionysus with Persephone, and the Eumenides/Erinyes by Apollo and Persephone. Dionysus aids mortals in the living world and Persephone in the world of the dead. Zeus installs Dionysus as king of the gods, but he is torn apart and eaten by the titans.
-Those who called themselves Orphics and Pythagoreans often rejected the eating of meat, or only ate the meat of sacrifices
-Pythagoreans rejected beans due to their similarity to human organs
-Both groups believed that human souls reincarnated, and that special knowledge could free human souls from this process, possibly culminating in apotheosis
-Philosophers held a variety of opinions on the reality and nature of the gods, though almost all except the Cynics affirmed the goodness and necessity of conventional and traditional worship and sacrifice, even if they rejected the truth of anthropomorphism or the myths
-Romans had contact with Greeks from very early times, and consciously identified their own deities with those of the Greeks, as well as adopting some Greek rituals (for Ceres) and deities (Asclepius), however, they tended to maintain a distinction between native Roman religion and introduced elements, as well as specifically Romanising those deities introduced, though there was less of a distinction in later eras
-Romans had an interest in the supposed Eastern origins of their city, making pilgrimages and receiving initiation at a shrine in Samothrace (supposedly the ancestors of Priam and the Trojans), which was otherwise unheard of in Greece
-Rome did not have a highly developed inter-divine mythology, their mythology consisting of civic events with divine influence
-Romans in the imperial period considered some aspects of Greek religion (bizarre myths, bacchic cults, etc) to be unsavoury and dangerous, but generally respected the antiquity of Greek religion
-Romans did not generally impose their rituals on Greeks, except when founding new cities in Greece, and there were cults to Roman rulers, much as in the Hellenistic period
-Jewish and Christian response to Greek religion was a combination of criticism and attempts to co-opt the antiquity of Greek religion for their own purposes (Orpheus as monotheist), as well as the use of Greek philosophy in the justification of Christian religion
-The conversion of Constantine did not immediately criminalize non-Christian religions, but it did provide vast resources for the growth of Christianity. Eventually, sacrifice was made illegal, and temples and sanctuaries were demolished, allowed to moulder when destroyed inadvertently, or changed into secular buildings or churches
-Greek cults survived into the 5th century, especially healing cults like Asclepius, but waves of mass conversion in later centuries eventually resulted in the extinction of traditional Greek religion, with only small traces remaining within the Greek Christian system

Overall, this was a good book, though I found the later chapters far more engaging than the early ones, in that they tend to develop an argument more strongly rather than reciting facts. It covers primarily the Archaic and Classical eras, with some material on the Imperial period. There's a strange hole related to the Hellenistic period, which I was hoping to learn a bit more about, the interaction of Greek religion with further flung regions like western Asia and Egypt, as well as the ruler cults which were previously unknown to Greece. There are several themes repeated throughout the book, principally the deep connection between Greek states and Greek religions, contrary to the sort of pluralism and free-wheeling people might expect, as well as the idea of of the supremacy of tradition and antiquity which was a pillar of both state and religion throughout Greece. The authors take pains at time to correct and pre-empt assumptions that might exist due to a readers presumed Christian background, such as non-professional priests being unimportant to the religious system, which they argue against strongly. As a non-Christian, I found some of those interesting in their own right.

[Viktor · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very fascinating look at ancient Greek religion. on the one hand, the book includes a very broad array of topics, from specific festivals, to religious places, to the different ways in which men, women and children were involved in religious practice. on the other hand, however, the book as veeery much centred around Athens (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, most sources we now have are from Athens + it was one of, if not the biggest and most important place back in the day), but i felt that too often the examples led back to the Acropolis, neglecting cities like Thebes for example

the book is filled with illustrations depicting archeological findings and temple lay-outs, which greatly enhance the experience of getting to know ancient Greek religion. many quotes from contemporary sources add even more life to the book

overall i think this book gives a very good impression of ancient religious practices in the Greek world. even if you wouldn’t be satisfied with the information in this book, the author includes an extensive bibliography and a myriad of footnotes, guiding the reader to many more interesting works on the topic (which i consequently will have to check out one by one -- duh!)

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great overview of the conglomerate of different traditions and ideas that made up what might today generally be called "Ancient Greek religion" - from the different aspects of it, down to how the traditions lived on, and how modern concepts (much formed by how we are used to the Christian traditions) has little or no meaning when dealing with ancient religions (not just Greek, I might add, and not just ancient). The book has a rather scholarly slant, and I like that.

[Dylan Siebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for something about actual religious practice in ancient Greece rather than mythology, and based on primary sources. This book wasn't exactly riveting, but it fit the bill.

Although I love a good theory or dramatic and sweeping insight, Price's careful study was a good reminder of how messy and detailed the sources are, and how difficult it is to generalize cultural themes based on archaeology. Especially when most of our sources come from just one jurisdiction, Athens. One key takeaway for me was the author's corrective argument that ancient polytheism wasn't as freewheeling and liberally tolerant as is popularly imagined today- for nonconformists like Socrates, not showing proper reverence or trying to bring in newfangled deities without official permission could have serious consequences.

I read about halfway and then moved on. This one will be good to have on my shelf as a reference for later.

[建军 李 · Rating 5 out of 5]

发现有些观点和dodds不一样，好像是关于狄俄倪索斯崇拜的？ 给了我不少占卜师相关的内容，挺好的

[nat]

i READ and STUDIED 72% of this book, considering that i'm done with the course i think that's good enough

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good introduction to Greek religion. Not an overview of myth so much as the practice of religion.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have two text books for Ancient Greek Religion, one of the history subjects I am studying this semester at uni. I much prefer Price's text for many reasons. He doesn't feel the need to rehash useless bits of information that are part of logic or common knowledge, for one, and he does present a fairly concise but well-versed amount of knowledge and history in his book. It's a book for adults, not children, as the other text's author seems to think.

[StrangeBedfellows · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read with some good information. The content is largely dominated by the Eleusinian Mysteries, but that's not uncommon when discussing religious beliefs of ancient Greece. I would recommend this to anyone interested in Classical culture.