Networks and Narratives: A Model for Ancient Greek Religion*

Abstract

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.

Looking at the Shepherd of Hermas through the experience of lived religion

“…Instead, it is a consideration of lived experience of religion that does not presume that ritual and ceremonial practices are the sole mechanism by which spiritual and religious experiences were generated. Integrative approaches that consider the embodied experience of the individual engaged in practices that are not strictly ceremonial, such as enactive reading and perception, offer a potentially rich way to conceptualize how traditions moved from region to region, from the past to the future, between individuals and groups in larger social networks (Eidinow 2011). The performative practice of enactive reading could be imagined as an effective means by which texts participated in a social mechanism for the formation of identity.…”

Religion in the making: the Lived Ancient Religion approach

“…Narratives however are rarely 'closed': the biographical narrative of the individual, for example, necessarily alludes to, even incorporates, the 'public' narratives of families, groups and polities, thus creating a complex narrative identity, which is not the mere sum of all the narrative vectors, but has been filtered through a variety of institutions and interests, each of which can be understood as itself a complex network of narratives and practices, whose ramifications have no natural limits. In the case of a citizen of Athens, such a dense 'bio-narrative', if limited to ta theia or thrêskeia ('religion'), might result in something that we would call 'Greek religion' (Eidinow 2011). As such, narratives, the 'emplotment' of events and actions, embedded in time, space and personal relationships, were a major source of orientation for groups (Rüpke 2016d).…”

Only Connect? Network Analysis and Religious Change in the Roman World

“…Because we use maps of this kind all the time, to navigate metro systems or plan flights, we are familiar with the kind of pattern that emerges. Some applications of this sort of approach 5 Pioneering studies include MALKIN, CONSTANTAKOPOULOU, PANAGOPOULOU, 2009;MALKIN, 2011B;EIDINOW, 2011;MALKIN, 2005;RUTHERFORD, 2007;COLLAR, 2013;VLASSO-POULOS, 2007. have been made to Roman urban systems (MORLEY, 1997;WORTHAM, 2006). It is easy enough to create a taxonomy of towns, grouping them for example by size or by juridical status or location.…”