Module description
This is not a module that explores mythology. The subject of Greek Religion encompasses issues of belief and practice, ritual norms and regulations, concerns and motivations of practitioners, religious settings of worship and organisation of festivals. We learn about religion from inscriptions, archaeology, art, and literary texts from the Bronze Age through the Archaic and Classical periods to the time of the Hellenistic kingdoms.
Over the course of two terms, we will employ a variety of multi-disciplinary approaches (historical, anthropological, sociological) to the study of ancient Greek religion. Part of the module will trace the history of Greek religious institutions and practices through time (from the Late Bronze Age - Mycenaean period - to Early Archaic Greece and down to the Hellenistic times). Another part of the module will focus on specific topics that cut across chronological periods. Among the subjects covered there will be the appearance of major sanctuaries and their function in the religious life of communities, the importance of hero cults for civic identity; Greek views on the nature of gods and heroes; the role of such rituals as sacrifice and prayer; the role of diviners, seers, and magicians, as well as regular community members in communal life. Questions of temple construction, appointment of ritual personnel, financing of cults, functioning of oracles, meanings of initiation rites, mystery cults, and religious poetry will also be covered in weekly seminars.
Assessment details
Coursework
2 x 3,000-word essays (50% each)
Teaching pattern
20 x 2-hour seminars (weekly)