COVER
PREFACE
I LIVING WITH THE DIVINE
1. The Modern Study of Religion
2. Culture and Race
3. Cults
4. Too Many Gods?
5. Polytheism and Monotheism
6. Toleration and Religious Pluralism
7. Paganism
8. Basic Features of Greco‐Roman Religions
9. Myths and Sacred Stories
10. Acts of Worship
11. The Priesthoods
12. Purification Rituals
13. Communicating with the Divine
14. Games
15. The Afterlife and Funeral Rites
16. Summary
17. Suggestions for Further Reading
II THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN
1. Mesopotamia
2. Egypt
3. The Rest of the Neighborhood
4. Greece
5. Rome
6. Summary
7. Suggestions for Further Reading
III MYTHS, GODS, AND HEROES
1. Mythology
2. In the Beginning: Greece
3. The Myths of the Olympians
4. Other Important Deities
5. Heroes
6. Summary
7. Suggestions for Further Reading
IV MYTHS, GODS, AND HEROES
1. In the Beginning: Rome
2. Other Important Deities
3. Heroes
4. Summary
5. Suggestions for Further Reading
V TEMPLES AND PRIESTS
1. Temples
2. Priests and the Priesthood: Greece
3. Priests and the Priesthood: Rome
4. Summary
5. Suggestions for Further Reading
VI WORSHIP OF THE GODS
1. Pilgrimage
2. The Worship of the Gods in Greece and Greek Colonies
3. The Worship of the Gods: Rome
4. The Roman Triumph
5. Summary
6. Suggestions for Further Reading
VII RELIGION AND SOCIETY
1. Social Class
2. Honor/Shame
3. The Patron/Client Relationship
4. Slavery
5. The Family in Ancient Greece
6. The Family in Ancient Rome
7. The Ideal Family and the Ideal Society
8. Summary
9. Suggestions for Further Reading
VIII COMMUNICATING WITH THE DIVINE
1. Prayers and Hymns
2. Divination
3. Prophets
4. Seers
5. Augurs and Haruspices
6. Portents and Prodigies
7. Oracles
8. The Sibylline Oracles
9. Incubation/Healers/Dream Interpretation
10. Epidaurus
11. Dreams
12. Sortition
13. Manipulating the Divine
14. Astrologers and Herbalists
15. Necromancy
16. Sorceresses and Witches
17. Summary
18. Suggestions for Further Reading
IX THE MYSTERIES
1. The Eleusinian Mysteries
2. Bona Dea
3. The Mysteries of Dionysus
4. Bacchus
5. The Mysteries of Cybele, the Great Mother
6. The Cult of Mithras
7. The Mysteries of Isis, Osiris, and Serapis
8. The Mysteries and the Afterlife
9. Summary
10. Suggestions for Further Reading
X DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE
1. Ancient Concepts of the Afterlife
2. The Afterlife in Ancient Greece
3. The Afterlife in Ancient Rome
4. Summary
5. Suggestions for Further Reading
XI RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
1. Schools of Philosophy
2. Egypt, Babylon, and Persia
3. Philosophy in Ancient Greece
4. Philosophy in Ancient Rome
5. Religion, Philosophy, and the Common People
6. Summary
7. Suggestions for Further Reading
XII RELIGION AND THE STATE
1. Law and Government in the Ancient World
2. Greece
3. Roman Religion and the State
4. Religion and the State for the Masses
5. Summary
6. Suggestions for Further Reading
XIII THE LEGACY OF GRECO‐ROMAN RELIGIONS IN WESTERN CULTURE
1. Second Temple Judaism in the First Century
2. The Spread of Christianity
3. Summary
4. Suggestions for Further Reading
GLOSSARY
INDEX
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

List of Illustrations

Chapter 01
1. Figure I.1 Greek temple (Temple of Neptune, 460 BCE).
2. Figure I.2 Roman temple (Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France, one of the best‐preserved Roman temples, an Augustan provincial temple of the Imperial cult).
Chapter 02
1. Figure II.1 Map of ancient Mesopotamia.
2. Figure II.2 Map of ancient Egypt.
3. Figure II.3 Some Egyptian gods.
4. Figure II.4 Map of Persia.
5. Figure II.5 Etruscan tomb painting.
6. Figure II.6 Statue of Romulus and Remus.
Chapter 03
1. Figure III.1 Statue of Hera.
2. Figure III.2 Statue of Athena.
3. Figure III.3 Statue of Aphrodite and Eros, 100 BCE.
4. Figure III.4 Statue of Artemis with deer, 350 BCE.
5. Figure III.5 Statue of Herm, 280 BCE.
6. Figure III.6 The caduceus.
7. Figure III.7 Heracles.
Chapter 04
1. Figure IV.1 Statue of Roman Jupiter.
2. Figure IV.2 Statue of Minerva.
3. Figure IV.3 Venus arising from the sea, Pompeii.
4. Figure IV.4 Statue of Vesta.
5. Figure IV.5 A more youthful depiction of Dionysus/Bacchus.
6. Figure IV.6 The Dioscuri.
7. Figure IV.7 Hercules.
Chapter 05
1. Figure V.1 Types of Greek columns.
2. Figure V.2 West pediment of the Parthenon.
3. Figure V.3 Greek ritual sacrifice.
4. Figure V.4 Flamens with distinctive hats.
5. Figure V.5 Virgo Vestalis Maxima.
6. Figure V.6 Roman sacrifice.
Chapter 06
1. Figure VI.1 Artemis at Ephesus.
2. Figure VI.2 Reconstruction of the Roman forum.
3. Figure VI.3 Reconstruction of the Circus Maximus.
4. Figure VI.4 Sculpture of a Roman triumph.
Chapter 08
1. Figure VIII.1 Praying man from the Catacombs in Rome.
2. Figure VIII.2 Roman haruspices.
3. Figure VIII.3 Ruins of ancient Delphi.
4. Figure VIII.4 Phallus above a doorway at Pompeii.
5. Figure VIII.5 The Oracle at Cumae.
Chapter 09
1. Figure IX.1 Panel from the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii.
2. Figure IX.2 Statue of Cybele.
3. Figure IX.3 Statue of Isis and Horus.
Chapter 10
1. Figure X.1 Curse tablet.
2. Figure X.2 Greek funerary stele.
3. Figure X.3 Etruscan funeral banquet.
4. Figure X.4 Etruscan funerary urn.
5. Figure X.5 Roman funeral procession.
6. Figure X.6 Roman funeral monument.
7. Figure X.7 Mosaic of gladiators.
8. Figure X.8 Mosaic of bestiarii.
Chapter 11
1. Figure XI.1 Bust of Plato.
2. Figure XI.2 Bust of Aristotle.
3. Figure XI.3 Bust of Cicero.
4. Figure XI.4 Bust of Marcus Aurelius.
Chapter 12
1. Figure XII.1 Hammurabi stele with Shemesh.
2. Figure XII.2 Bust of Solon.
3. Figure XII.3 Bust of Herodotus.
Chapter 13
1. Figure XIII.1 Jesus raising the dead with his wand.
2. Figure XIII.2 The “good shepherd.”
3. Figure XIII.3 Ravenna mosaic of Christ dressed as Roman soldier.

This edition first published 2019
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Name: Denova, Rebecca I., author.
Title: Greek and Roman religions / Rebecca I. Denova.
Description: Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2019. | Series: Blackwell ancient religions | Includes index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018025169 (print) | LCCN 2018038135 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118542774 (Adobe PDF) | ISBN 9781118543009 (ePub) | ISBN 9781118542903 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781118542958 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Greece–Religion. | Rome–Religion.
Classification: LCC BL723 (ebook) | LCC BL723 .D46 2018 (print) | DDC 292–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018025169

Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: (front) © Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library/Alamy Stock Photo; (back) © OnstOn/iStockphoto

PREFACE

Standard history books on Greece and Rome often reduce religion to one or two chapters. In the ancient world, religion as a separate, conceptual category did not exist. The term was first articulated in the seventeenth century to describe systematic theology. In the ancient world, religion was not just something that involved temples and sacrifices. Religious views were integrated into all of life and helped to create ethnic identities. It was the very heart of understanding oneself as a person of status and worth, and one's place in relation to the past (the ancestral customs), to the family, the city‐state, and the Empire. Ancient culture and religion were synonymous.

The Academic Discipline of Religious Studies

A relatively recent addition to the academy (within the last 70 years), Religious Studies utilizes all of the liberal arts and social science approaches to the study of human history and society. Rather than a value judgment of correct religious values or worldviews, Religious Studies scholars focus on the origins of religious authority (institutions), beliefs, rituals, sacred texts, and ethics. These phenomena have influenced human relationships, social structures, and governing powers in a given society. The emphasis is on the way in which religious worldviews function in society and help to provide meaning to human existence. This textbook utilizes a multidisciplinary approach in Religious Studies to the religions of Greece and Rome.

Features of this Textbook

Chapter I emphasizes the presence of divinity in all aspects of ancient life. Modern preconceptions, however, often create obstacles to understanding this integration of religion and culture. It is important to address the problem of anachronism, the bane of all historians because we are human. The use (and misuse) of descriptors such as “cult,” “pagan,” and the modern polarity of polytheism versus monotheism remain challenges in the construction of ancient societies.

Greece and Rome did not emerge in a vacuum; trade and war meant that cultural traditions were exchanged from the earliest times. The second half of this chapter outlines the basic features of ancient religion shared by everyone in the region, such as sacrifice, ritual, priests, prayers, and divination. This eliminates the necessity of having to repeat the basic elements as we proceed. Many terms are in bold type and are defined in the Glossary.

Chapter II provides a brief outline of the civilizations of the neighboring regions. Although we cannot always directly trace the influence of these cultures on Greco‐Roman customs, both of these later societies absorbed some of the shared elements. The evolution of religious worldviews went hand in hand with remembered history. Brief histories of Greece and Rome are presented as background material. Rather than simply a standard timeline of events, I have emphasized those events that became incorporated into the ethos and religious cultures of Greece and Rome.

Chapter III begins with an explanation of the nature and function of myth in the ancient world. I have provided the basic stories of the Greek pantheon as well as a few other divinities and heroes who were also popular. Chapter IV, outlines the Roman equivalents, including Italian deities.

Chapter V highlights the temple structures and specific duties of priests and priestesses. Beginning in this chapter, the rest of the book follows a similar pattern by presenting the Greek materials first and then the Roman aspects of the same elements. This does not necessarily indicate that Greek ideas are older or prior to Roman (and Italian) concepts, but rather the fact that we have a plethora of evidence of the Roman borrowing of Greek culture.

Chapter VI follows the order of the gods presented in each pantheon and outlines the details of the calendar of religious festivals. This chapter emphasizes the communal nature and function of these rituals in ancient society. The festivals were crucial to the agricultural cycles as well as celebrating foundational myths and appealing to the protection of the gods.

Chapter VII focuses on the elements that constituted Greco‐Roman culture, such as economic class, honor/shame, patron/client, and slavery. The family was the basic social unit in antiquity. This chapter highlights the religious roles of each member of the family in Greece and Rome.

Chapter VIII details the various ways in which Greeks and Romans sought to determine the will of the gods. It was important that individual, communal, and government actions be validated through divine approval. This chapter details the various methods utilized by the ancients to determine the correct balance between human activity and the gods.

The Mystery cults require a separate chapter to demonstrate the elements these cults added to the regular forms of worship. Chapter IX presents the background and evolution of the more popular Mysteries, followed by what is known of their ritual aspects.

All ancient cultures had concepts of what happens after death. Chapter X presents the evolution of these ideas and their relation to concepts of ultimate justice. The importance of funeral rites is presented in detail. Much of our evidence of Greco‐Roman views on the afterlife is found in funerary inscriptions; this chapter highlights the function of the epitaphs with some examples. Students will discover that concepts of the afterlife and funeral rituals are among the most conservative elements to have survived from the ancient world.

In addition to archaeological artifacts and inscriptions, we have a font of ideas on religion from the various schools of philosophy in the ancient world. Chapter XI describes the worldview of many of these schools and includes some critiques of popular religion. The modern world considers laws and law codes as “civic” or “secular.” Chapter XII demonstrates that constitutions and governance in antiquity were consistently understood to be revealed by the gods, for the communal good.

While the contributions of Greece and Rome in art, architecture, drama, philosophy, and politics are extolled in modern times, there is little analysis of the influence of Greco‐Roman religious concepts on the emergence of Christianity and Western worldviews. Chapter XIII highlights the elements of ancient religions that remain important in our contemporary quest for meaning.

Boxes

An important element of Religious Studies methodology is the attempt to teach our students how to read and think critically. Religion reflects human experience. The evaluation of various artifacts of historical evidence in its own context is vital to reconstructing that experience – context explains content. Citing one of my favorite historians, Mary Beard:

the study of ancient history is as much about how we know as what we know … an engagement with all the processes of selection, constructive blindness, revolutionary reinterpretation, and willful misinterpretation that together produce the “facts” … out of the messy, confusing, and contradictory evidence that survives.¹

To that end, I have included boxes, some of which contain more detail on an ancient aspect, and some that address how we analyze ancient materials to reconstruct religious beliefs. How do scholars go about the business of piecing together the combination of archaeological remains, myth, epic poetry, literature, drama, art and architecture, poetry, and philosophical treatise?

Each chapter is followed by “Suggestions for Further Reading,” with both traditional studies and more recent examinations of topical issues.

Using this Textbook

When I first created a course on Greco‐Roman popular religion in our Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, I encountered several obstacles. Although it was an upper‐division, undergraduate elective that was cross‐listed with Classics, most of my students had very little background in ancient history and culture (“Western Civilization” courses are no longer required). Of necessity, most of the lectures were dedicated to supplying this background before I could get to the purpose of each unit. Secondly, students were required to buy two sets of textbooks; textbooks that provided both cultures did not exist. Third, most of the available textbooks are written by Classicists who automatically assume a certain level of knowledge, consistently referencing history and historical characters, myths, drama, and philosophical treatises without explanation. And fourth, there were very few books from the viewpoint of the discipline of Religious Studies. This textbook attempts to provide solutions to these problems in similar courses on Greco‐Roman religions, history, and culture. At the same time, one combined text will help to reduce costs to the students.

For professors who teach courses on the combined Greco‐Roman religions, this text can essentially serve as an outline for the syllabus. It provides an overview of ancient culture and history of the general region as well as the basic background of Greek and Roman civilizations. Many features of ancient religions and cultural elements are included in a Glossary. One of the evaluation methods that I use in the course is an assigned research paper on a particular god or goddess which traces the ancient cult from Greece to Rome through comparative analysis. This method provides students with an opportunity to understand both the similarities and the differences of these two cultures. This textbook is structured so that they can easily identify similarities and differences.

For professors who teach the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome from a historical point of view, this textbook can serve as a supplementary resource that can provide more detailed information on the importance of religion in the life of Greeks and Romans.

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GREEK AND ROMAN RELIGIONS