Religion and Society

• The olympian gods could be worshiped at a range of differnt levels

• an individual might amke a scarifice to a household god, then go to a civic festivle and make offerings to a polis god then go to a Panhellenic site and make an offering to another

• each cult was distinguished by an epithet if a god, wich could relate to the location of teh cult or to teh specific area of responsivility that god was particually associated with

• polis- A Greek word often translated as 'city-state' reffering to a city and the land it controlled as one political entity

• Household religious participation took place in the Oikos

• the head of the household was always the eldest male figure.

• religious authority lay with him   and he acted as the preist and overseer of the household riturals

• everyday he would make offreings to the three household gods

• Within the Oikos members of the familiy had differnt duties (explained in duties cards)
  

• Zeus Ketesios- protector of property and wealth. A depiction if Zeus Ketesios would likley be kept in the storeroom. He was represented by a two-handled vase draped in a white woollen ribbon, filled with seeds, water and olive oil. father would pray to him for health and good property.

• Zeus Herkios- Zeus of the fence, protected the enclosure of the house and his statue therfore stood in the courtyard, around which the house was structured. He was often depcietd with a snake to ward of evil. 

• Apollo Agyeios- Unlike Zeus Herkeios who protected the house from within Apollo Agyeios protected it from outside the main door of the house.  He was represented by a sttatuette, by a small pillar or by a statue of heracles.

• The Hearth- Every household had a ceneteral Hearth, dedicated to Hestia, Goddess of the hearth. While Zeus Herkios represnted the home to the outside, she does that for the family themselves. New members of the family, such as babies, new brides or slaves, were welcomed into the home with a small cermonay of walking  around the hearth showered by dried fruit and nuts.
  

• The herme- Herms were a rectangular pillar with the beareded head of the god Hermes at the top and an erect phallus at the appropriate possion further down. They stood both as halfway markers oon the road and as a protective symbol outside the home.

• Father had most duties, tending to family cult
  

• tending family tombs, both the  physical apperance and the riturals of the dead

• offerings of garlands and libations of milk and honey were given once a year in honour of the deceased

• The son was welcomed into the fathers Phractery during a three-day festivle in honour of zeus phratios called the apatouris (of the same father)

• The women of the household had very different roles

• Despite the fact that they had very limited political and legal rights, and in Athens were not even considerd full citizens, their exlcusion from household cult is unexpected

• main religious participation was as  a priestess for state or communal civic cults

• once married women could take part in fetsivles such as the Thesmophoria, a women only festivle or the Elusion mysteries

• they also had to tend to the corpse after someone dies

• Arrephoros - This was a secret ritural performed in may associated with the temple of Athena Polias, Athena of the city. The arrephoroi, two maidens chosen each year, carried a basket on their heads, given to them by athena, but they did not know what it contained. They took it from nearby the temple of Athena on teh acropolis through an underground passage to the sancturay of Aphrodite in the Gardens. They left the basket there and carried something else back.
• Grinder- These girls ground the meal for the cakes which would be offered to Athena on her altar at various occasions
  
• Brauronia- there was a sancturay of Artemis at Brauron, 32km south-west of athens. Girls would dress up like bears at the festivle of Artemis Brauronia. This ritural was required for all Athenian girls before they could marry
• Basket-bearer-  this probably reffers to the baskets carrying scarifical implemnets 
  

• Athens was seperated into demes

• each deme had its own set of religious festivles orgainsed into a scared calender

• The callender of Erchia records the worship of six Apollos defiened by a epither: Apotropaios ( averter of evil), Delphinios (of delphi), Lykeios (of wolves), Paion (healer), Pythios (pythian)

• three local heroes who were unattested elsewhere

• erchia is recored to have offerd sacrifices to Gods such as Athena Polias on the acroplolis

• rural deme's gods would be more symbolic of their livelihoods  erchia had a fetsivle in honour of demeter as they were a farming Deme

• directed its prayers and worship to the welfare of the polis as a whole.
• They were paid for with state funds, orgainsed by state officials and (mostly) opend to all citizens
• the city funded the temples, sacrifices, fetsivles and dedications
• not only to honour the gods but also to draw the comunity together to craete patrotism and civic pride
• The worship of hestia seen at both Oikos and Polis- state herath in Prytaneion
• the Athenians built the city Eleusinion to correspond with the sanctuary at eluesis

• these are the most important Panhellenic sanctuaries:
• Delphi- pythian Apollo- Apollo wo slew Pytho, a mythical snakle that terrories the area - pythian games
• Olympia- olympian Zeus- Zeus of Olympus, the mountain in Northern Greece where the Gods lived
• Nemea- Nemean zeus- zeus of Nemea- Nemean games
• Isthmus- Isthmian poseidon- Poseidoen of Isthmus- Isthmian games
• Games were held at ecah of the sites every 4 years

• In Domestic context, religious authroity lay with the male head of the Oikos
• In Athens religion authority lay with the people, the demos, but was organised and carried out by a range of personnel
• preists were an integral part of greek religion 
• Their role and authroity lay with overseeing riturals, such as sacrifices, libations and prayers, as well as taikng care of the sanctuary
• they were responsible for the finaces of the the sanctuary and the safety of the worshipers

• Jon Mikalson- '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'
  

• Miasama was a serious offense in ancient greek religion and society
• 1- for women after giving birth, still birth , loss of a foetus or abortion and in some instances whilst mensturating (although rarely)
• 2- Through being physically dirty
• 3-through not honouring the right god in the right way on the right day
• 4- by disrepecting the ansesteral laws of burial
• 5- by disrespecting someones riht to asylum , safe refugue within a sanctuary
• 6- through sexual intercourse
• 7- attending a funreal or being on presence of a dead body
• 8- murder
• 9- by entering the home of a woman who had just given birth 
• individuals could purify themselfs through performing specific rites, according to how they became polluted e.g. if dirty they could sprinkle themselfs with water from a basin at the entrance to a sanctuary
• if it was childbirth they couldn't enter a sanctuary for a number oif days but mudre was more complicated and ritural cleansing would need to occur

• Archon Basileus- King Ruler - main religious offical of athenian state- responsibility over religious callender and jusdicial authroity over religious matters
• Epoymous Archon- after whom the year was named- had authroity over the civic festivles - e.g. city dionysia
• Polemarch- war archon- in charge of cults that related to militrary affairs- e.g. the public fetsivle in honour of the war dead and a festivle commemorating athenian victrory over persians at marathon
• Epimeletai- overseeres- individually appointed for festvivles- e.g. four at elusyian mystreies- two from eumploidea family

• cities had pateron deities, and often heroes who protected them.
• athens- under patronage of Athena
• when celebrating athena athens also celebrated themselfs
• most political decisions were made with religious consultations
• peace trateis were sworn as oaths to gods
• when cities went to war gods were consulted
• king croesus of lydia comnsulyted the oracle whether he would go to war aganst the persians- herodotous
• political instituations such as law courts and assembly were also relient upon gods
• law courts had authority over religious matters

The panathenaia was a festivle celebrated anually in honour of the patron goddess of athens, athena. Every four years the great panathenia was held, which was a grander version of the lesser panathenai held anually and inculed an elaborate procession and hecatomb

• the great panathenia started with a procession, a pompe.
• Started at the Dipylon gates on the outskirts of the city
• the procession grew so big that eventually the pompeion was built
• procession passed through keraneikos through the agora and up to the Acroplis via the propylaia
• the road they wlaked along was called the panathaneic way - 10 meters wide
• considerd to be such a singificant part of athenian religion and civic life that it was depicted on the pathanon
• it shows the presnetation of the peplos to athena
• the 12 olympian gods depicted either side of the presentation scene

• marked the birth of athena polias and the focal part of the celebration was giving here a 'birthday gift'
• she was given a peplos- the style of dress she was always depicted in
• The ergastinai maides from an aritocratic family wove it each year
• it was dyed in safron and decroated with a scene to show athenas duel with the giant Encelados
• it was draped on the olive-wood statue of athena polias
• for the great panatahenia a much larger peplos was weaved by professional male weavers and showed athena and zeus together- used as a sail on the wooden boat taht was rolled up in the procession
• it may have bene used to drape phideas' chyrselephantine statue

• occured after the procession and were in honour of athena
• a civic decree recorded that the cattle brought with rent from the land sacred to athena were scarificed on the altar of athena on the acropolis and the best parts were sacrificed to athena nike. 
• civic officials were given the cuts of meat first after the gods
• the distribution of the remaining meat occured in the Kerameikos.

• day 1- music and rhapsodic contests
• day 2- athletic contests for boys and youths
• day 3- athletic contest for men
• day 4 - equestrian event
• day 5- tribal contest: euandrion and pyrihic dance
• day 6- torch race and scarifice
• day 7- boat race in bay of pireus
• day 8 - awards of prizes, feasting and celebrations