Cults, Territory, and the Origins of the Greek City-State

Cults, Territory, and the Origins of the Greek City-State
Author: François de Polignac
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 1995-08-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780226673332

Combining archaeological and textual evidence the author suggests that most of the 8th Century settlements that would become the city-states of classical Greece were defined as much by the boundaries of civilised' space as by their urban centres.

Ancient Greek Cults

Ancient Greek Cults
Author: Jennifer Larson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2007-05-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134346182

Using archaeological, epigraphic, and literary sources; and incorporating current scholarly theories, this volume will serve as an excellent companion to any introduction to Greek mythology, showing a side of the Greek gods to which most students are rarely exposed. Detailed enough to be used as a quick reference tool or text, and providing a readable account focusing on the oldest, most widespread, and most interesting religious practices of the ancient Greek world in the Archaic and Classical periods, Ancient Greek Cults surveys ancient Greek religion through the cults of its gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines. Jennifer Larson conveniently summarizes a vast amount of material in many languages, normally inaccessible to undergrad students, and explores, in detail, the variety of cults celebrated by the Greeks, how these cults differed geographically, and how each deity was conceptualized in local cult titles and rituals. Including an introductory chapter on sources and methods, and suggestions for further reading this book will allow readers to gain a fresh perspective on Greek religion.

Greek Mysteries

Greek Mysteries
Author: Michael B. Cosmopoulos
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2005-08-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 113453616X

Written by an international team of acknowledged experts, this excellent book studies a wide range of contributions and showcases new research on the archaeology, ritual and history of Greek mystery cults. With a lack of written evidence that exists for the mysteries, archaeology has proved central to explaining their significance and this volume is key to understanding a phenomenon central to Greek religion and society.

Religion in the Ancient Greek City

Religion in the Ancient Greek City
Author: Louise Bruit Zaidman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1992-12-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521423571

This book is a translation into English of La religion grecque by Louise Bruit Zaidman and Pauline Schmitt Pantel, described by Dr Simon Price as 'an excellent book, by far the best introduction to the subject in any language'. It is the purpose of the book to consider how religious beliefs and cultic rituals were given expression in the world of the Greek citizen - the functions performed by the religious personnel, and the place that religion occupied in individual, social and political life. The chapters cover first ritual and then myth, rooting the account in the practices of the classical city while also taking seriously the world of the imagination. For this edition the bibliography has been substantially revised to meet the needs of a mainly student, English-speaking readership. The book is enriched throughout by illustrations, and by quotations from original sources.

Ancient Mystery Cults

Ancient Mystery Cults
Author: Walter Burkert
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1989-10-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0674253159

The foremost historian of Greek religion provides the first comprehensive, comparative study of a little-known aspect of ancient religious beliefs and practices. Secret mystery cults flourished within the larger culture of the public religion of Greece and Rome for roughly a thousand years. This book is neither a history nor a survey but a comparative phenomenology, concentrating on five major cults. In defining the mysteries and describing their rituals, membership, organization, and dissemination, Walter Burkert displays the remarkable erudition we have come to expect of him; he also shows great sensitivity and sympathy in interpreting the experiences and motivations of the devotees.