Ancient Greek Religion Final

“What is Ancient Greek religion?”

Main focus on the element of festivals, sanctuaries, and cults and how these all incorporate their own unique aspects when defining Ancient Greek religion.

The Greek religious system depended not on a single deity, but on many. It did not depend on a sacred text and was served by both female and male priests. Greek gods did not assert rules for human conduct. The Ancient Greeks imagined human shapes and personalities for the immortal deities and then honored them in rituals that both comforted individuals and supported existing social systems.

Religion in Ancient Greece was about community. While an individual does not have to believe the same thing as the community, they do have to participate equally in the religious actions. Belief was not the important thing. But if you don’t participate with the community, that will anger everyone and it offends the gods and endangers the community. It is treason to not participate.

Greek religion is about action, not belief. It’s about give and take.

The practice of religion cannot be separated from social and political life. Many concepts of Greek religion could be seen to benefit more than just the religious aspects.

* Sanctuaries * Two most necessary features (directly related to ritual): * A place of sacrifice * A boundary line marking the space within which sacred rituals could be performed * Most sanctuaries were used by all ranks and classes * Here people could do deeds and give gifts that show time to the deity. Worshippers wanted to honor the deity for the power the deity had and for the good things that deity provided. * Individuals went to sanctuaries to ask for divine help. * They asked for success in life and for protection, and they sought advice. * They asked for victory in battle and in competition, and for good crops. * They asked for good marriages, success in childbirth, healthy and plentiful children. * They gave thanks for benevolence received and brought gifts. * They offered the first crops from their farms or a small animal. * Dedications reflect multiple communal and personal functions. An individual’s gift not only showed devotion and deference, but also displayed the donor’s social status, and claimed reciprocity. * Communal dedication of war booty = signals state’s success on the battlefield * More lavish gifts, such as marble statues, intentionally drew attention to the status of the donor (therefore aimed at the human and the divine) * The location of a sanctuary and the deity (cult statue) worshipped there suggest specific functions * Sanctuary on the coastline worships Poseidon – helps maintain trade by sea, etc.

* Festivals * Period of holy days intended to please the gods and strengthen links between mortals and immortals. * Religious purpose: to engage the good will of the gods at the level of the individual and ensure divine help in the growth of the state * Processions served to underscore the humanity and solidarity of the polis * Greater Panathenaia – procession to Athena’s sanctuary on the Acropolis – also demonstrated the leadership of Athens and the communal efforts of all the tribes coming together to show their dedication to Athena * Served on one level to cement the relationship between gods and mortals and on another to bind all classes of a polis together in shared experiences * Sacrifices: to perform a sacred act, or to make something sacred, to separate it from the world of men and give it to the gods * Used to reinforce social norms. * City Dionysia – playwriting competition – plays would teach lesson to the citizens enforcing social norms in society * Reminded to be pious and not to think too highly of themselves * Voting upon the winner of the playwriting competition enforced the social norm of democracy