A Companion to Greek Religion

This major addition to Blackwell’s Companions to the Ancient World series covers all aspects of religion in the ancient Greek world from the archaic, through the classical and into the Hellenistic period.

• Written by a panel of international experts
• Focuses on religious life as it was experienced by Greek men and women at different times and in different places
• Features major sections on local religious systems, sacred spaces and ritual, and the divine

List of Figures x

Notes on Contributors xii

Acknowledgments xvii

Note on Authors and Translations xviii

Abbreviations xix

Ancient Author Fragment Series xxi

Introduction 1
Daniel Ogden

Part I In the Background 19

1 Greek Religion and the Ancient Near East 21
Scott B. Noegel

Part II The Powers: The Gods and the Dead 39

2 Olympian Gods, Olympian Pantheon 41
Ken Dowden

3 A Land Full of Gods: Nature Deities in Greek Religion 56
Jennifer Larson

4 Personification in Greek Religious Thought and Practice 71
Emma Stafford

5 The Dead 86
D. Felton

6 Heroes and Hero-Cults 100
Gunnel Ekroth

Part III Communicating with the Divine 115

7 Prayers and Hymns 117
William D. Furley

8 Greek Normative Animal Sacrifice 132
Jan N. Bremmer

9 Divination 145
Pierre Bonnechere

Part IV From Sacred Space to Sacred Time 161

10 A Day in the Life of a Greek Sanctuary 163
Beate Dignas

11 Purity and Pollution 178
Andreas Bendlin

12 Festivals 190
Scott Scullion

13 Time and Greek Religion 204
James Davidson

Part V Local Religious Systems 219

14 ‘‘Famous Athens, Divine Polis’’: The Religious System at Athens 221
Susan Deacy

15 The Religious System at Sparta 236
Nicolas Richer

16 The Religious System at Alexandria 253
Françoise Dunand

17 The Religious System in Arcadia 264
Madeleine Jost

Part VI Social Organization, the Family, and Sex 281

18 Religion and Society in Classical Greece 283
Charles W. Hedrick Jr.

19 Women, Religion, and the Home 297
Janett Morgan

20 ‘‘Something to do with Aphrodite’’: Ta Aphrodisia and the Sacred 311
Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge

Part VII Mysteries and Magic 325

21 Finding Dionysus 327
Susan Guettel Cole

22 The Mysteries of Demeter and Kore 342
Kevin Clinton

23 Magic in Classical and Hellenistic Greece 357
Matthew W. Dickie

Part VIII Intersections: Greek Religion and 371

24 Greek Religion and Literature 373
Thomas Harrison

25 Greek Religion and Philosophy: The God of the Philosopher 385
Fritz-Gregor Herrmann

26 Greek Religion and Art 398
T.H. Carpenter

Part IX Epilogue 421

27 Gods of the Silver Screen: Cinematic Representations of Myth and Divinity 423
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Bibliography 439

Index 477

"The organization of this useful volume invites dipping into rather than a linear perusal. The contributors ... manage to be both informative and fair in their presentation of controversial issues, and blessedly jargon free." (Religious Studies Review, December 2009)

"This collection of essays is a welcome addition to the existing books on Greek religion. Both advanced students and scholars will find it a useful introduction to the state of research on the subject." (Acta Classica, 2009)

"A splendid book at a not unreasonable price." (Reference Reviews, 2008)

"Modestly aiming to offer a mere impression of such a vast field, and eschewing any specific intellectual agenda, Daniel Ogden has done an excellent job both in defining major topics for discussion and in commissioning a varied list of contributors, senior and junior, European and North American, classicists, archaeologists, and historians of religion. ... Ogden has done in excellent job." (Greece and Rome, 2008)

"The Companion to Greek Religion is overall an excellent package of the best and most interesting research in Greek religion." (Scholia Reviews, 2008)

"Blackwell Companions have well-established reference potential defined by the breadth of scholarly perspectives presented. This volume offers ... well-documented narrations, along with cross-referencing between them." (CHOICE)

"Covers all aspects of religion in the ancient Greek world. ... Each of the volume's essays is written by an international expert." (Wordtrade.com)

"Blackwell maintains the high standard of its Companion series with these twenty seven essays. ... All in all, [there is] much excellent material here." (Journal of Classics Teaching)

Daniel Ogden is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Exeter. He is author of Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds (2002), Greek and Roman Necromancy (2001), and Greek Bastardy (1996), and editor of The Hellenistic World: New Perspectives (2002). A Companion to Greek Religion covers all aspects of religion in the ancient Greek world from the archaic, through the classical, and into the hellenistic period. Each of the volume’s 27 essays is written by an international expert and provides a survey of a particular area that reflects contemporary scholarship. All the contributions place an emphasis on religious life as it was experienced by Greek men and women at different times and in different places. Myth is considered alongside religion throughout.

The Companion opens with a review of the Near Eastern background to Greek religion. There follow major sections on the divine powers, communication with the divine, sacred space and time, local religious systems, social organisation and the family in religion, and mystery cults and magic. Further chapters consider the interaction between religion and art, literature, and philosophy. A closing chapter looks at the treatment of Greek religious themes in the cinema.