ANIMALS IN ANCIENT GREEK RELIGION. Edited by JuliaKindt. London and New York: Routledge, 2021. Pp. xv + 304; figures. Hardcover, $160.00.

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-374
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Religion

Is it possible to believe in a syncretistic god? A discussion on conceptual and contextual aspects of Hellenistic syncretism

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 125-141
Author(s):  
Petra Pakkanen
Keyword(s):  
Belief System ◽  
Fundamental Change ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Religion ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Ptolemaic Egypt ◽  
Religious Systems

This article will look into the phenomenon of syncretism from two different points of view. Firstly, syncretism will be discussed from a conceptual perspective in relation to elaborations on belief, an equally perplexing concept in the studies of ancient Greek religion. Secondly, a very selective example of the syncretism between the goddess Demeter and Isis as an object of veneration in Ptolemaic Egypt will be looked at more closely in order to bring the conceptual perspective into closer contact with the contextual one. It will be argued that syncretism can be regarded both as an essence of polytheistic religious systems in particular, and as a process of syncretization. Once a metaphorical understanding of syncretism is added to these views, believing in a syncretistic deity (Demeter-Isis in our case) appears doubtful since a new entity in a polytheistic belief-system would have entailed a fundamental change in the belief system itself as well as an introduction of totally new features to the conception of deities in general.

A view from the Greek side

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
Gunnel Ekroth
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Religion ◽  
Bone Material ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Integrated Study ◽  
Written Sources

This paper addresses the animal bone material from ancient Qumran, from the comparative perspective of zooarchaeological evidence recovered in ancient Greek cult contexts. The article offers an overview of the paramount importance of animal bones for the understanding of ancient Greek religion and sacrificial practices in particular, followed by a review of the Qumran material, taking as its starting point the zooarchaeological evidence and the archaeological find contexts. The methodological complications of letting the written sources guide the interpretation of the archaeological material are explored, and it is suggested that the Qumran bones are to be interpreted as remains of ritual meals following animal sacrifices, as proposed by Jodi Magness. The presence of calcined bones additionally supports the proposal that there was once an altar in area L130, and it is argued that the absence of preserved altar installations in many ancient sanctuaries cannot be used as an argument against their ever having been present. Finally, the similarities between Israelite and Greek sacrificial practices are touched upon, arguing for the advantages of a continued and integrated study of these two sacrificial systems based on the zooarchaeological evidence.

scholarly journals Religion without doctrine or clergy: the case of Ancient Greece

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
George Tridimas
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Religion ◽  
Distinct Class ◽  
Religious Doctrine ◽  
Moral Behaviour ◽  
Mass Participation

Abstract The paper examines doctrinal and political reasons to explain why the Ancient Greek religion did not feature a distinct class of professional priests as suppliers of religious goods. Doctrinal reasons relate to worshiping a multitude of powerful anthropomorphic gods with flawed characters; absence of a founder of religion and of a scripture; lack of religious doctrine and of a code of moral behaviour and piety manifested as mass participation in rituals. These factors denied religious suppliers the opportunity to form a monopoly acting as an autonomous intermediary between humans and gods. Political reasons relate to the supremacy of the demos which watchfully guarded its decision-making powers and prevented other actors like a priestly interest group to challenge its authority.

scholarly journals O método ético da Eudêmia

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Mariane Farias de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
The State ◽  
State University ◽  
Greek Philosophy ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Ancient Greek Philosophy ◽  
Aristotle's Ethics

Tradução do artigo "Eudemian Ethical Method", de Lawrence Jost, publicado originalmente em Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy IV: Aristotle's Ethics edited by John P. Anton and Anthony Preus, the State University of New York Press ©1991, State University of New York. A tradução foi feita sob supervisão do orientador prof. Dr. José Lourenço Pereira da Silva (UFSM).

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