Greek religion scholars

James Redfield (Homer’s gods)

the gods are ‘a chief source of comedy’ in the Iliad

Geoffery Kirk (how they are different)

‘these divine scenes successfully avert the theatre of monotony, because they provide a total change of atmosphere and behaviour […] all sorts of not very heroic qualities are allowed to enter the lives of the gods’

Jasper Griffin (Homer’s gods)

Homer’s gods are ‘really impressive’ and they deserve the worship they receive

William Allan (gods are not cruel)

argues the gods are not portrayed as being amoral but instead offer divine justice

Jon Mikalson (gods and mortals)

gods and humans relationship is the honour which ‘a subject owes his king’

Jon Mikalson (polis understanding)

in polis participation ‘the state […] was recognising nationally the importance of these family deities’

Louise Bruit Zaidman

‘religion […] did more than just put a divine gloss on civic life. It impregnated each and every civic activity’

Louise Bruit Zaidman

there is an ‘inseparability of festivals from the very definition of Greek civic life’

Burkert (bonding violence)

blood sacrifice and its shared aggression led to the founding of community and therefore ‘civilisation’

Fred Naiden (balance)

‘the sacrifice served to maintain and stabilise the relationship between mortals and gods’

Tor (Xenophanes)

‘Xenophanes rejects traditional conceptions of divine disclosure as theologically faulty and supplants them with his own, alternative notion of disclosure’

Robert Garland (why to worship)

‘The Greeks did not worship their gods because they upheld justice or were supremely good beings. They worshipped them because they were powerful and because it could be extremely dangerous not to worship them’

Gunnel Ekroth (masculinity and cruelty)

most heroes are male warriors or kings and not all heroes were good people

Parker (heroes)

‘Heroes are integral for Athenian identity’

Richard Seaford (centrality)

‘Mystery cults were the central experience in the life of the individual who underwent it’

Burkert (the same)

‘Mysteries do not constitute a separate religion outside the public one’

Esther Eidinow (polis)

The polis takes charge of the city as well as cultural, social and religious activity

Simon Price (correlation)

‘Deme religion correlated with polis religion’

Julia Kindt (all the same)

The Greeks did not distinguish between polis and personal religion

Faraone (replication)

‘Household religion replicates civic religion’

Michael Scott (renown)

Athens tried to make their festival and games as renowned as Delphi and Olympia but it never worked

Michael Scott (Delphi)

Delphi was a unifying space

Burket (doubt)

‘To doubt the arts of divination is to fall under suspicion of godlessness’

Burkert (Dodona’s point)

‘Dodona enjoyed a certain popularity; nevertheless it is mostly private individuals […] approaching the gods for advice on everyday problems’

Burkert (no priests)

‘Greek religion might almost be called a religion without priests’

Parker (RESPECT)

Priests were respected but they have no power to enforce

Burkert (giving nothing)

‘Such a sacrifice is performed for a god and yet the god manifestly receives next to nothing’

Jean-Pierre Venant (food)

Sacrificing is fundamentally killing to eat

Marcel Detienne (exclusion)

‘Since there are some specific examples of inclusion (in rituals), the default was exclusion’

Osborne (inclusion)

‘There are more specific examples of exclusion, so the norm was inclusion’

Simon Price (philosophers)

‘The common characteristic of the differed philosophical schools was rejection of the mythology and theology of Homer and Hesiod’

Simon Price (practice not belief)

‘practice not belief is the key and to start from questions about faith or personal piety is to impose alien values on ancient Greece’

Julia Kindt (reasons for festivals)

Individuals were motivated by personal belief to join festivals