CC GCSE Women and Religion

Pantheon

Pantheon

A group of gods and goddesses

Hiereia

Greek priestess

temple

a building dedicated to one or more of the gods

sanctuary

an area of sacred land set apart from the rest of the city

mantis

prophet, seer, soothsayer, oracle

Arrephoroi

four young aristocratic girls aged 7-11 chosen to serve the goddess by setting up the loom for the peplos

Pythia

(Greek mythology) the priestess of Apollo at Delphi who transmitted the oracles

Religious Pollution

state of uncleanness that offended the gods and prevented the participation in religious festivals

Delos

Greek island sacred to Apollo

Peplos

a garment worn by women in ancient Greece, usually full length and tied at the waist

Ergastinai

young women who wove the peplos

frieze

a broad horizontal band of sculpted or painted decoration, especially on a wall near the ceiling.

Parthenon

A large temple dedicated to the goddess Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It was built in the 5th century BCE, during the Athenian golden age.

Panathenaia

the most important festival for Athens and one of the grandest in the entire ancient Greek world. Except for slaves, all inhabitants of the polis could take part in the festival.

Chiton

A Greek tunic, the essential (and often only) garment of both men and women, the other being the himation, or mantle.

Archon

a magistrate in Athens, responsible for organising civic as well as religious matters

Demeter

Goddess of agriculture in Greek mythology

Persephone

Demeter's daughter and Hades wife in Greek mythology

Hades

God of the underworld

Zeus

King of the gods in Greek mythology

Pynx

The hill just outside Athens, where the Assembly was held.

Mystery Cults

religious/philosophical belief of the ancient Greeks and Oriental East emphasizing spiritual aspects of the afterlife and the hope of joining the cult god in a wonderful existence in eternity. it was forbidden to share with the uninitiated

maenad

Female followers of Dionysus

maenad cup

A white ground cup showing a maenad holding a panther and thyrsus

Thyrsus

the wand/staff of Dionysus that is entwined w/ivy and a pinecone at the top

Charon

Ferryman of the underworld. A coin was placed in the deceased's mouth in Greece to pay the ferryman to get across the river Styx

shroud

cloth used to wrap a body for burial

college

a group of priests in Rome

Pontifex Maximus

the high priest of Rome, the head of Roman state religion; he appointed and oversaw the vestal virgins.

Vestal Virgins (Rome)

a group of 6 , most important female religious roles in Rome. One of their principal roles was to tend to the sacred fire of Vesta

Atrium Vestae

Beside the temple of Vesta, where the Vestal Virgins lived

flamenica dialis

wife of the priest (flamen) of Jupiter

Pudicitia

sexual modesty which was highly valued in Rome

Patricia Pudicitia

a cult dedicated to feminine virtue worshipped in the Forum Boarium, only noble women able to participate

univira

a Roman woman who has been married only once, either still married or a widow who chooses not to remarry

Plebeia Pudicitia

a shrine to the worship of feminine virtue on the Quirinal Hill, for those who were not Patrician after a woman named Verginia was turned away by the cult of Patricia Pudicitia

Bona Dea

Roman religious ceremony attended only by the women of Rome. Clodius, disguised as a woman, interrupted the ceremony in 62 B.C.

Sibyl

A female prophet or fortune-teller in Rome

Sibylline Books

Collections of prophecies of the Sibyls consulted by the Romans.

Quindecemviri

the fifteen members of a collegium with priestly duties, they guarded the Sibylline Books, which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate