Dionysos in classical Athens : an understanding through images /
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Dionysos, with his following of satyrs and women, was a major theme in a big part of the figure painted pottery in 500-300 B.C. Athens. As an original testimonial of their time, the imagery on these vases convey what this god meant to his worshippers. It becomes clear that - contrary to what is usually assumed - he was not only appropriate for wine, wine indulgence, ecstasy and theatre. Rather, he was present in both the public and private sphere on many, both happy and sad, occasions. In addition, the vase painters have emphasized different aspects of Dionysos for their customers inside and outside of Athens, depending on the political and cultural situation.
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1 online resource (xx, 290 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004270121 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Corinth, the first city of Greece : an urban history of late antique cult and religion /
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This book addresses cult and religion in the city of Corinth from the 4th to 7th centuries of our era. The work incorporates and synthesizes all available evidence, literary, archaeological and other. The interaction and conflict between Christian and non-Christian activity is placed into its urban context and seen as simultaneously existing and overlapping cultural activity. Late antique religion is defined as cult-based rather than doctrinally-based, and thus this volume focuses not on what people believed, but rather what they did. An emphasis on cult activity reveals a variety of types of interaction between groups, ranging from confrontational events at dilapidated polytheist cult sites, to full polysemous and shared cult activity at the so-called \'Fountain of the Lamps\'. Non-Christian traditions are shown to have been recognized and viable through the sixth century. The tentative conclusion is drawn that a clear definition of \'pagan\' and \'Christian\' begins at an urban level with the Christian re-monumentalization of Corinth with basilicas. The disappearance of \'pagan\' cult is best attributed to the development of a new city socially and physically based in Christianity, rather than any purely \'religious\' development.
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1 online resource (x, 173 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-170) and index. :
9789004301498 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Greek sacred law : a collection of new documents (NGSL) /
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This work contains two parts. Part I constitutes a guide to the corpus of Greek sacred law and its contents. A discussion of the history of the corpus and the principles governing its composition is followed by a detailed review of its contents, in which the evidence is classified according to subject matter. Part II contains inscriptions published since the late 1960s from all around the Greek world excluding Cos and Asia Minor (checklists for these are appended). The text of each inscription is presented alongside restorations, epigraphical commentary, translation, and a comprehensive running commentary. Most of the inscriptions are illustrated. The volume should prove useful to scholars of Greek religion, historians, and epigraphists.
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1 online resource (xx, 499 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 423-433) and indexes. :
9789047405801 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Alexandros, oder, Der Lügenprophet /
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Lucian's Alexander the False Prophet is the only literary testimony to a highly influential cult of the 'New Asclepios Glycon' which, as archaeological evidence continues to document, spread all over the eastern Mediterranean basin throughout the second and third centuries AD. This book offers an analysis of the complete manuscript tradition, a newly constituted text and a German translation. The extensive introduction deals with (1) the archaeological evidence, (2) the question of Lucian's historical reliability, (3) the reasons for Lucian's opposition to the oracle of Abonuteichos, (4) the institutions and the teaching of the cult at Abonuteichos. Furthermore, there is a commentary on all philological and historical questions and on those issues relevant to the history of religions. Lucian's Alexander is not one of his satirical bravuras, but a strikingly successful attempt at writing a work of contemporary history - a practical example of what the author himself has theoretically discussed in his work, How to Write History .
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1 online resource (viii, 180 pages, [4] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-177) and index. :
9789004295896 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Coping with the gods : wayward readings in Greek theology /
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Inspired by a critical reconsideration of current monolithic approaches to the study of Greek religion, this book argues that ancient Greeks displayed a disquieting capacity to validate two (or more) dissonant, if not contradictory, representations of the divine world in a complementary rather than mutually exclusive manner. From this perspective the six chapters explore problems inherent in: order vs. variety/chaos in polytheism, arbitrariness vs. justice in theodicy, the peaceful co-existence of mono- and polytheistic theologies, human traits in divine imagery, divine omnipotence vs. limitation of power, and ruler cult. Based on an intimate knowledge of ancient realia and literary testimonia the book stands out for its extensive application of relevant perceptions drawn from cultural anthropology, theology, cognitive science, psychology, and linguistics.
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1 online resource (xiii, 593 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 561-576) and indexes. :
9789004210905 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Hierà kalá : images of animal sacrifice in archaic and classical Greece /
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Hierà kalá presents a collection, analysis and interpretation of the representations of animal sacrifice from ancient Greece. The Archaic and Classical material is dealt with comprehensively. Later evidence is adduced more selectively, for the sake of comparison. All aspects of Greek sacrifice that are (or appear to be) represented in the iconographical material are treated in depth; interpretations are based on a combined study of the archaeological, the epigraphical and the literary data. Full catalogues of vase paintings and votive reliefs with depictions of sacrifice are included. A generous selection of these are illustrated in more than 200 figures.
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1 online resource (viii, 374 pages, [78] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-362) and indexes. :
9789004283459 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion and colonization in ancient Greece /
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Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.-- University of Pennsylvania).
Includes indexes. :
1 online resource (xii, 297 pages, [1] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-280). :
9789004296701 :
0169-9512 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Dionysos in archaic Greece : an understanding through images /
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For the Greek, Dionysos was a very important god: for individuals as well as for the community as a whole. As there are only a few written sources dating from before the 5th Century BC the many images of Dionysos on Greek vases may well offer a genuine approach to the meaning given by the ancient viewer. This book explores the earliest images followed by those on small vases for private use, on mixing bowls of the symposion, on amphoras, on later drinking cups and on archaic sculptures. It gives an overview of Dionysian iconography of the 5th Century BC as well as an overall interpretation. The reader will learn why this god of vine and wine, of theatre and ecstasy, was so important for humans and why he played a key role in the life of the polis. Dionysos war für die Griechen ein Gott von zentraler Bedeutung, sowohl im Leben des Einzelnen wie der Gemeinschaft. Weil vor dem 5. Jahrhundert volumeChr. sehr wenige Schriftzeugnisse existieren, können uns die vielen Darstellungen des Dionysos auf griechischen Vasen am ehesten einen Zugang zu dem vermitteln, was der antike Mensch über ihn dachte. Analysiert werden zuerst die frühesten Bilder, dann jene auf kleinen individuell gebrauchten Vasen, auf grossen, beim Symposion verwendeten Mischgefässen, auf Amphoren, auf den späteren Trinkschalen und schliesslich in der archaischen Skulptur. Das Buch schliesst mit einem Ausblick auf die Bildgeschichte des Dionysos im 5. Jahrhundert volumeChr. und einer umfassenden Deutung. Diese Interpretation hilft zu verstehen, warum Dionysos, der Gott der Rebe und des Weins, des Theaters, der Ekstase, für den antiken Menschen so wichtig war und auch im öffentlichen Leben der klassischen Polis eine so grosse Rolle gespielt hat.
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1 online resource (xx, 291 pages, [68] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-266) and indexes. :
9789047418825 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Kykeon : studies in honour of H.S. Versnel /
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A collection of papers with new insights on ancient religion, read at a colloquium in honour of Professor H.S. Versnel (\'Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion\'). The contributions, presented by nine leading scholars in the field, cover many areas of the religious experience of the Greeks and Romans: myth and ritual (W. Burkert), the gods (F. Zeitlin), cult, festivals, sacrifice. Several papers consider methodological problems and the progress of scholarship; they highlight the contribution of H.S. Versnel to the field. The papers are based on a wide range of sources: pagan and Christian, literary and epigraphical and iconographical. The collection will fascinate all scholars interested in ancient religion, whether they study malign magic, the Imperial cult or general theory.
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1 online resource (viii, 228 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004295940 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Worlds full of signs : ancient Greek divination in context /
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Worlds Full of Signs compares Greek divination to divinatory practices in Neo-Assyrian Mesopotamia and Republican Rome. It argues that the character of Greek divination differed fundamentally from that of the two comparanda. Ample attention is given to background and method at first. Subsequent chapters discuss the divinatory elements - sign, homo divinans , and text, relating divination to time and uncertainty. This book brings together sources originating from various times and places, questioning these to consider both generalities of ancient divination and specifics of Greek divination. Greek divination was inherently flexible on many levels: these findings should be connected to Greek views on time and the future as well as the relatively low level of divinatory institutionalization.
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1 online resource (xi, 248 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-236) and indexes. :
9789004256309 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Cretan sanctuaries and cults : continuity and change from Late Minoan IIIC to the Archaic period /
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This volume documents the development of Cretan sanctuaries and associated cults from the end of the Late Bronze Age into the Archaic Period (c.1200-600 BC). The book supplies up-to-date site catalogues and discusses recurring types of sanctuaries, the history of their use and their religious and social functions, offering new insights into the period as a whole. Ancient Crete is known as an island whose religion displays a strong continuity with 'Minoan' traditions. The period of 1200-600 BC in general, however, is considered as one of profound socio-political and cultural change. This study explores the idea of 'continuity' by detailing the different processes and mechanisms involved in the maintenance of older cult traditions and provides balance by placing the observed changes in cult customs and the use of sanctuaries in the broader context of societal change.
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1 online resource (xviii, 737 pages, [53] pages of plates) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 655-699) and index. :
9789047406907 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A Local history of Greek polytheism : gods, people, and the land of Aigina, 800-400 bce /
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This book provides the first comprehensive and detailed study of the deities and cults of the important Greek island-state of Aigina from the Geometric to Classical periods (800-400 BCE). It rests on a thorough first-hand reconsideration of the archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence. The development of the local cults is reconstructed, along with their interrelationships and how they responded to the social needs of the Aiginetans. Revising other recent models of interpretation, the author proposes a distinctive approach, informed by anthropology and social theory, to the study of the religious life of the ancient Greeks. On this basis, she uses the case of Aigina to explore fundamental issues such as the nature and variety of local religious worlds and their relationship to the panhellenic concepts and practices of Greek religion.
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1 online resource (xxviii, 690 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 551-577) and index. :
9789004262089 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Springtime of the People: The Athenian Ephebeia and Citizen Training from Lykourgos to Augustus /
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In The Springtime of the People: The Athenian Ephebeia and Citizen Training from Lykourgos to Augustus Thomas R. Henderson provides a new history of the Athenian ephebeia, a system of military, athletic, and moral instruction for new Athenian citizens. Characterized as a system of hoplite training with roots in ancient initiation rituals, the institution appears here as a later Lykourgan creation with the aim of reinvigorating Athenian civic culture. This book also presents a re-evaluation of the Hellenistic phase of the ephebeia, which has been commonly regarded as an institution in decline. Utilizing new epigraphic material, the author demonstrates that, in addition to rigorous military training, the ephebeia remained an important institution and played a vital and vibrant part of Athenian civic life.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004433366
9789004433359
The epigraphy and history of Boeotia : new finds, new prospects /
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Over the past 20 years, Boeotia has been the focus of intensive archaeological investigation that has resulted in some extraordinary epigraphical finds. The most spectacular discoveries are presented for the first time in this volume: dozens of inscribed sherds from the Theban shrine of Heracles; Archaic temple accounts; numerous Classical, Hellenistic and Roman epitaphs; a Plataean casualty list; a dedication by the legendary king Croesus. Other essays revisit older epigraphical finds from Aulis, Chaironeia, Lebadeia, Thisbe, and Megara, radically reassessing their chronology and political and legal implications. The integration of old and new evidence allows for a thorough reconsideration of wider historical questions, such as ethnic identities, and the emergence, rise, dissolution, and resuscitation of the famous Boeotian koinon . Contributors include: Vassilios Aravantinos, Hans Beck, Margherita Bonanno, Claire Grenet, Yannis Kalliontzis, Denis Knoepfler, Angelos P. Matthaiou, Emily Mackil, Christel Müller, Nikolaos Papazarkadas, Isabelle Pernin, Robert Pitt, Adrian Robu, and Albert Schachter.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004273856 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Inscribed Athenian laws and decrees 352/1-322/1 BC : epigraphical essays /
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This book collects eighteen papers which make original contributions to the study of the inscribed laws and decrees of the city of Athens, 352/1-322/1 BC, the most richly documented period of the city's history. Originally published in academic journals, conference proceedings and Festschriften between 2000 and 2010, they lay groundwork for the author's new edition of these inscriptions, IG II³ Part 1, fascicule 2. The papers, which are based on fresh comprehensive autopsy of the stones and study of squeezes, photographs and early transcripts, report important epigraphical findings (e.g. new readings, restorations, joins and datings), and include studies of onomastics and of the chronology and the history of the period.
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1 online resource (xii, 434 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004228528 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Cave of the Nymphs at Pharsalus : studies on a Thessalian country shrine /
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Cave of the Nymphs at Pharsalus is the first book-length study of one of Greece's most cited nymph sanctuaries. The volume includes a revised catalog, extensive new commentaries on the cave's famous inscriptions, and a first-time investigation of the site's topographical and archaeological layout. Also known as Alogopati or Karapla cave, the Pharsalian shrine holds a special place among ancient nymph caves as the only such site to feature an inscribed poetic chronicle of the shrine's foundation and its founder, the mysterious nymph worshipper Pantalces. Based on years of fieldwork and archival research, Cave of the Nymphs challenges some commonly held views about the origin of this rock-cut 'tale' and offers a fresh perspective for understanding the Pharsalian cave in its proper historical context.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004297623 :
1876-2557 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Inscribed Athenian laws and decrees in the age of Demosthenes /
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This book collects twelve papers which make original contributions to the historical interpretation of inscribed Athenian laws and decrees, with a core focus on significant historical shapes and patterns implicit in the corpus of the age of Demosthenes. Following a synthetic Introduction, two chapters analyse locations and selectivity of inscribing, four explore the implications of the inscriptions for Athenian policy and for developing attitudes to the past, three for aspects of Athenian democracy. The volume concludes with two studies of specific inscriptions. Some of the papers have appeared elsewhere in conference proceedings and Festschriften, some are published here for the first time. The volume complements the author's previous collection, Inscribed Athenian Laws and Decrees 352/1-322/1 BC: Epigraphical Essays .
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004352490 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Cult and Koinon in Hellenistic Thessaly
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Cult and Koinon in Hellenistic Thessaly examines the territorial expansion of the Thessalian League circa 196-27 BCE and the development of the state religion of the League. Individual chapters trace the adoption of a common Thessalian calendar by new members of the League, the establishment of new regional festivals, the elaboration or reorganization of older cults, and League participation in a network of international festivals; cult could equally well enact alternatives to this political arrangement, however, and older religious traditions continued to be maintained both within new League territories and especially at Delphi. The result is a fresh portrait of the politics of cult on the Greek mainland in the later Hellenistic period.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004215023 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.