Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion, Volume 1: Ter Unus. Isis, Dionysos, Hermes. Three Studies in Henotheism

Versnel, H. S.

doi:10.1163/9789004296725

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Parker 1996: 201). The verb, nomizo, translated here as 'acknowledge', straddles both the idea of 'customary practice' and 'belief ' (see Derenne 1930, Fahr 1969, Versnel 1990: 125, Parker 1996. Dover (1975) has argued that only Socrates can be taken to have been prosecuted for his attitudes towards the gods; in his edition of Aristophanes' Clouds, he translates nomizo as 'accept (or treat, practise) as normal', which captures both physical and mental attitudes.…”

Section: Religious Misdemeanoursmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Foreigners needed two permits to found a temple for their gods in Athens. These covered both the right to acquire a piece of land (enktesis) and permission to build a temple on it: for Bendis IG II 2 1283; Egyptian devotees of Isis and the Cyprian ones of Aphrodite Ourania IG II 2 337 = LSCG 34 333/332 BCE; see Pecírka 1966, Versnel 1990: 122, with Parker 1996: 216 and Purvis 2003 58 See Parker 1996: 199 for the quotation and ch. 9 of that volume for evidence.…”

Section: Religious Misdemeanoursmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Envy, Poison, and Death

Eidinow

2015

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At the heart of this volume are three trials held in Athens in the fourth century BCE. The defendants were all women and in each case the charges involved a combination of ritual activities. Two were condemned to death. Because of the brevity of the ancient sources, and their lack of agreement, the precise charges are unclear, and the reasons for taking these women to court remain mysterious.Envy, Poison, and Death takes the complexity and confusion of the evidence not as a riddle to be solved, but as revealing multiple social dynamics. It explores the changing factors-material, ideological, and psychological-that may have provoked these events. It focuses in particular on the dual role of envy (phthonos) and gossip as processes by which communities identified people and activities that were dangerous, and examines how and why those local, even individual, dynamics may have come to shape official civic decisions during a time of perceived hardship.At first sight so puzzling, these trials reveal a vivid picture of the socio-political environment of Athens during the early-mid fourth century BCE, including responses to changes in women's status and behaviour, and attitudes to ritual activities within the city. The volume reveals some of the characters, events, and even emotions that would help to shape an emergent concept of magic: it suggests that the boundary of acceptable behaviour was shifting, not only within the legal arena but also through the active involvement of society beyond the courts.

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Section: Religious Misdemeanoursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Religious Misdemeanoursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Envy, Poison, and Death

Eidinow

2015

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“…82 If it means the foundation, then there is, indeed, evidence that this was sometimes the case, at least in the Hellenistic period, as suggested by an inscription from Magnesia, I Magnesia 215 (PARKE -WORMELL II [1956], no. 338), an oracle from Magnesia that describes the establishment of a sanctuary of Dionysos, and involves the fetching of maenads from Thebes: part of the 'official religious apparatus of the city,' see VERSNEL (1990) 85 Pausanias, X, 4, 3 (Athenian) and X, 32, 7 (in Parnassos); Pausanias, VI, 26, 1 (a feast outside Elis); see also Plutarch, Mulierum Virtutes, 13 (Mor., 249e), discussed further below and see VERSNEL (1990), p. 138. Maenadic activity seems to be referred to at Sophocles, Antigone, 1149-1151; Euripides, Ion, 550-552; Aristophanes, Clouds, 603-606; Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes, 498 and 836.…”

Section: Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Networks and Narratives: A Model for Ancient Greek Religion*

Eidinow¹

2011

kernos

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Polis religion has become the dominant model for the description of ritual activity in ancient Greek communities. Indeed, scholars have invoked polis religion to try to resolve the much-debated question of the definition of magic vs. religion, arguing that particular 'magical' practices, and their practitioners, do not belong to 'collective polis religion.' However, the relationship to polis religion of a 'magical' practice such as the writing of binding spells is surely more ambiguous, as well as of other cult activity relating (in various ways) to the worship of Dionysos. Further examination suggests that defining what it means for ritual activity to be integrated within the schema of polis religion becomes increasingly difficult as we examine the variety of cult organisations and the different levels and types of involvement by the polis. This paper argues that social network theory may be able to overcome these conceptual difficulties. This approach can offer an alternative, more fluid construction of ancient Greek religion, which allows us to take account of coexisting, sometimes overlapping, networks of ritual activities.Résumé : La polis religion est devenue le modèle dominant pour décrire l'activité rituelle des communautés de la Grèce antique. En fait, les chercheurs ont invoqué cette notion pour tenter de résoudre la question très débattue de la définition de la « magie » en regard de la « religion », en assumant que les pratiques magiques et leurs acteurs n'appartenaient pas à la religion collective de la polis. Néanmois, la relation entre polis religion et pratique « magique » comme l'écriture de defixiones, est certainement plus complexe, tout autant que d'autres activités cultuelles, comme celles qui relèvent du culte de Dionysos, et ce de diverses manières. Un examen approfondi montre qu'il devient difficile de définir ce que cela suppose, pour une activité rituelle, d'être intégrée au schéma de la polis religion quand on analyse la variété des organisations cultuelles et les différents niveaux et types d'implication de la polis. Cet article montre que la social network theory permet de dépasser ces difficultés conceptuelles. Une telle approche offre une construction alternative, plus fluide, de la religion grecque antique, en permettant de prendre en compte des réseaux d'activités rituelles qui coexistent et se recouvrent parfois.

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“…33Müller (1913); more recently, Versnel (1998) 194–6, (2011) 290–1. There were even deities whose name was simply ‘Great’: the ‘Great Gods’ of Samothrace (Cole 1984) and the Θεὸς Μέγας at Istros (Bordenache and Pippidi 1959).…”

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confidence: 99%

Croesus’ Great Nemesis

Dillery

2019

Camb. class. j.

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This article attempts to account for the fact that nemesis occurs only once in Herodotus. It connects the term to Phrygia and the importance of Nemesis there, esp. as seen in ‘confession-inscriptions’ (Beichtinschriften). It argues that the Atys-Adrastus story is meant as an interpretative guide to the rest of the History through its use of significant names, comparable to the use of significant names in the Old Testament.

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Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion, Volume 1: Ter Unus. Isis, Dionysos, Hermes. Three Studies in Henotheism

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Envy, Poison, and Death

Envy, Poison, and Death

Networks and Narratives: A Model for Ancient Greek Religion*

Croesus’ Great Nemesis

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