Understanding the Ancient Greek Polis and Ancient Greek religion

Polis

city-state: a political system consisting of an independent city having sovereignty over contiguous territory and serving as a centre and leader of political, economic, and cultural life.

Aristotle's view on polis

'Every polis is as we see a sort of partnership, and every partnership is formed with a view to some good'

Differentiation in geography

Differentiation in geography and location in order to make cities less comparably 'typical'.

Technical sense of polis

The term polis has come to be invested with a technical sense which it did not possess in antiquity.

Ancient citizenship (Athens)

Some degree of political enfranchisement.

Legal protection in citizenship

Some degree of legal protection.

Right to own property

The right to own land and property.

Heritability of citizenship

Heritable (passed from father to son).

Proportion of citizenship

Could be enjoyed by a small proportion of the adult male population, or a larger one.

Exclusion from citizenship

Full citizenship always excluded women and the enslaved.

Granting citizenship

Could be granted to citizens of other poleis, as a special honour.

Citizenship in democracy vs oligarchy

'often somebody who would be a citizen in a democracy is not a citizen under an oligarchy.'

Polis political systems

Democracy - demokratia, Oligarchy - oligarchia, Monarchy - monarchia.

Variations of monarchy

Kingship - basileia, Dyarchy (modern term), as seen in Sparta, Tyranny - tyrannis (emergence to take power).

Aritea

success in physical and political careers.

Polis levels of democracy

Polis operate on different levels ranging from monarchy to radical democracy.

Demes

a district, village, or town in ancient Greece, which in some city-states was the basic political unit.

Oikos

Household, its persons and possessions; basic unit of social organization.

Damos/Demos

the people of a particular place, taken as a whole.

Basileus

the headman, chief, or king.

Koine

Shared cultural identity; may include language, material culture, customs etc.

Autonomy

self-government (of each polis).

Synoecism

the merging of small settlements into a larger political unit (polis?).

Federal State

Separate city-states (poleis) of a geographical and/or ethnic region were combined to form a single entity for purposes of foreign policy, while for local purposes retaining their separate identity as city-states and their separate citizenship.

Greek federal states

Some shared decision-making body, some system of collective representation, a shared treasury, sometimes federal coinage, shared religious spaces, and myths of common ancestry.

Greek religion

Polytheistic, flexible and inclusive, based on ritual, especially animal sacrifice and other forms of offering, highly localized and various; no central religious text or dominant priesthood.

Levels of religious activity

Different levels of religious activity exist within the oikos (household), within the polis, and on the panhellenic level, at sanctuaries such as Delphi and Olympia.

Greek religious spaces

The temple (naos), the sacred enclosure (temenos), the sanctuary (hieron), the altar (bōmos), sacred caves, sacred groves, sacred springs, and sacred mountain-tops.

Votive

An offering to the gods.

Attributes of a Greek deity

Includes items like shield, helmet, aegis.

Cult title/Epithet (epeklesis)

Various titles such as Promachos and Parthenos at Athens; Chalkioikos at Sparta.

Powers and spheres of influence of a Greek deity

Includes areas such as craftsmanship and political life.

François de Polignac's view

Temples as boundary marking for territories.

Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood's view

The polis anchored, legitimated and mediated all religious activity.

Religious games and festivals

The 'Crown Games' of Greece include Pythian at Delphi, Olympic at Olympia, Isthmian near Corinth, and Nemean at Nemea.

The Olympic Games

Held every four years, included a declaration of a Sacred Truce, and events such as foot-races, foot-races in armour, chariot and horse races, wrestling, boxing, pankration, and the pentathlon.

Delphic organisation

The sanctuary of Apollo was managed by an 'Amphiktyony', consisting of 12 ethnē (tribes) with 2 yearly council meetings.

Amphiktyonic Council

Each ethnos had two representatives on the council, and its greatest power was that of declaring a 'Sacred War'.

Important phases of construction at Delphi

Second half of 7th c. BCE - the first known Apollo temple is built; ca. 590 BCE - the Pythian Games are established; 6th c. BCE - a profusion of dedications and buildings; ca. 513 BCE - a new temple is built by the Alkmaionids; destroyed by an earthquake in 373 BCE.

Dedications at Delphi

Not all dedications were from the Greek homeland (e.g., Naxos).

Politics and competition within the polis

Special politics and competition for offerings within the polis and temples.