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Although recent scholarship has focused on the city-state as the
context for the production of Greek poetry, for poets and
performers travel was more the norm than the exception. This book
traces this central aspect of ancient culture from its roots in the
near Eastern societies which preceded the Greeks, through the way
in which early semi-mythical figures such as Orpheus were imagined,
the poets who travelled to the brilliant courts of archaic tyrants,
and on into the fluid mobility of imperial and late antique
culture. The emphasis is both on why poets travelled, and on how
local communities used the skills of these outsiders for their own
purposes. Wandering poets are also set within the wider context of
ancient networks of exchange, patronage and affiliation between
communities and are seen as one particularly powerful manifestation
of a feature of ancient life which is too often overlooked.
Our knowledge of ancient Greece has been transformed in the last
century by an increased understanding of the cultures of the
Ancient Near East. This is particularly true of ancient religion.
This book looks at the relationship between the religious systems
of Ancient Greece and the Hittites, who controlled Turkey in the
Late Bronze Age (1400-1200 BC). The cuneiform texts preserved in
the Hittite archives provide a particularly rich source for
religious practice, detailing festivals, purification rituals,
oracle-consultations, prayers, and myths of the Hittite state, as
well as documenting the religious practice of neighbouring
Anatolian states in which the Hittites took an interest. Hittite
religion is thus more comprehensively documented than any other
ancient religious tradition in the Near East, even Egypt. The
Hittites are also known to have been in contact with Mycenaean
Greece, known to them as Ahhiyawa. The book first sets out the
evidence and provides a methodological paradigm for using
comparative data. It then explores cases where there may have been
contact or influence, such as in the case of scapegoat rituals or
the Kumarbi-Cycle. Finally, it considers key aspects of religious
practices shared by both systems, such as the pantheon, rituals of
war, festivals, and animal sacrifice. The aim of such a comparison
is to discover clues that may further our understanding of the deep
history of religious practices and, when used in conjunction with
historical data, illuminate the differences between cultures and
reveal what is distinctive about each of them.
For at least a thousand years Greek cities took part in religious
activities outside their territory by sending sacred delegates to
represent them. The delegates are usually called theoroi, literally
'observers', and a delegation made up of theoroi, or the action of
taking part in one, is called theoria. This is the first
comprehensive study of theoroi and theoria. It examines a number of
key functions of theoroi and explains who served in this role and
what their activities are likely to have been, both on the journey
and at the sanctuary. Other chapters discuss the diplomatic
functions of theoroi, and what their activities tell us about the
origins of the notion of Greek identity and about religious
networks. Chapters are also devoted to the reception of the notion
of theoria in Greek philosophy and literature. The book will be
essential for all scholars and advanced students of ancient
religion.
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between
literature and stylistic theory in the Antonine Age. The literature
is the prose literature of the Second Sophistic and the stylistic
theory is the so-called idea-theory set out in the Peri Ideon of
Hermogenes of Tarsus, as well as two anonymous works: the Peri
Politikou Logou and the Peri Aphelous Logou. The author discusses
the relationship between idea-theory and sophistic declamation, the
relative value attributed to prose and poetry, attitudes towards
Xenophon and Demosthenes, and the reputation of Aelius Aristides.
He concludes that the links between literary theory and literary
practice are greater than previously imagined. A translation of the
anonymous Peri Aphelous Logou (`On Plain Language') is included as
an appendix. This has not previously been translated although it is
the major source for the reception of Xenoephon in this period.
This book presents a range of case-studies of pilgrimage in
Graeco-Roman antiquity, drawing on a wide variety of evidence. It
rejects the usual reluctance to accept the category of pilgrimage
in pagan polytheism and affirms the significance of sacred mobility
not only as an important factor in understanding ancient religion
and its topographies but also as vitally ancestral to later
Christian practice.
This is the first full scholarly edition of the paeans, or sacred hymns to Apollo, written by the famous classical poet Pindar. They are the most celebrated examples of a genre which once held a central place in the song-dance culture of classical Greece - a unique and haunting legacy of both early classical poetry and ancient religion. Some fragments of these poems were first published within just the last five years.
No area of ancient Greek literature has been more studied over the
last few decades than "lyric poetry", which conventionally includes
poetry sung by choruses or soloists accompanied by the lyre or
aulos (flute). Besides its literary significance, lyric poetry is
also a major resource for understanding the culture and history of
Archaic Greece, especially the seventh and sixth centuries BC. This
volume brings together eighteen of the best and most influential
essays to be published on lyric poetry over the last four decades,
three of which are here translated into English for the first time.
Authored by experts on Greek lyric poetry from the UK, Europe, and
the USA - including Gregory Nagy, Claude Calame, and Malcolm
Davies, among several others - the papers cover a wide range of
general themes, ranging from studies of genre and the poetic
persona to performance and interpretation, and also offer
illuminating case studies of individual poets, from Alcman and
Alkaios to Sappho and Simonides. Collated here in a single volume
and prefaced by a thorough and up-to-date synoptic introduction by
the volume editor, himself a recognised authority on the subject,
the plurality of critical voices and perspectives offers both
scholars and students an accessible yet comprehensive and
insightful overview of the field.
This volume brings together studies on Greek animal sacrifice by
foremost experts in Greek language, literature and material
culture. Readers will benefit from the synthesis of new evidence
and approaches with a re-evaluation of twentieth-century theories
on sacrifice. The chapters range across the whole of antiquity and
go beyond the Greek world to consider possible influences in
Hittite Anatolia and Egypt, while an introduction to the burgeoning
science of osteo-archaeology is provided. The twentieth-century
emphasis on sacrifice as part of the Classical Greek polis system
is challenged through consideration of various ancient perspectives
on sacrifice as distinct from specific political or even Greek
contexts. Many previously unexplored topics are covered,
particularly the type of animals sacrificed and the spectrum of
sacrificial ritual, from libations to lasting memorials of the
ritual in art.
This volume brings together studies on Greek animal sacrifice by
foremost experts in Greek language, literature and material
culture. Readers will benefit from the synthesis of new evidence
and approaches with a re-evaluation of twentieth-century theories
on sacrifice. The chapters range across the whole of antiquity and
go beyond the Greek world to consider possible influences in
Hittite Anatolia and Egypt, while an introduction to the burgeoning
science of osteo-archaeology is provided. The twentieth-century
emphasis on sacrifice as part of the Classical Greek polis system
is challenged through consideration of various ancient perspectives
on sacrifice as distinct from specific political or even Greek
contexts. Many previously unexplored topics are covered,
particularly the type of animals sacrificed and the spectrum of
sacrificial ritual, from libations to lasting memorials of the
ritual in art.
For at least a thousand years Greek cities took part in religious
activities outside their territory by sending sacred delegates to
represent them. The delegates are usually called theoroi, literally
'observers', and a delegation made up of theoroi, or the action of
taking part in one, is called theoria. This is the first
comprehensive study of theoroi and theoria. It examines a number of
key functions of theoroi and explains who served in this role and
what their activities are likely to have been, both on the journey
and at the sanctuary. Other chapters discuss the diplomatic
functions of theoroi, and what their activities tell us about the
origins of the notion of Greek identity and about religious
networks. Chapters are also devoted to the reception of the notion
of theoria in Greek philosophy and literature. The book will be
essential for all scholars and advanced students of ancient
religion.
Although recent scholarship has focused on the city-state as the
context for the production of Greek poetry, for poets and
performers travel was more the norm than the exception. This book
traces this central aspect of ancient culture from its roots in the
near Eastern societies which preceded the Greeks, through the way
in which early semi-mythical figures such as Orpheus were imagined,
the poets who travelled to the brilliant courts of archaic tyrants,
and on into the fluid mobility of imperial and late antique
culture. The emphasis is both on why poets travelled, and on how
local communities used the skills of these outsiders for their own
purposes. Wandering poets are also set within the wider context of
ancient networks of exchange, patronage and affiliation between
communities and are seen as one particularly powerful manifestation
of a feature of ancient life which is too often overlooked.
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