SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK RELIGION Corrected Edition

SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK RELIGION Corrected Edition

SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE Sources for Biblical Study edited by Burke O. Long Number 14 SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK RELIGION Corrected Edition by David G. Rice and John E. Stambaugh

SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK RELIGION Corrected Edition by David G. Rice and John E. Stambaugh Published by The Society of Biblical Literature

SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF GREEK RELIGION Corrected Edition by David G. Rice College of St. Scholastica and John E. Stambaugh Williams College Copyright 2009 by The Society of Biblical Literature Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stambaugh, John E. Sources for the study of Greek religion. (Sources for Biblical study no. 14 ISSN 0145 2762) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. 1. Greece Religion Collected works. I. Rice, David G., joint author. II. Title. III. Series. BL782.s7 292.08 79-18389 ISBN 0-89130-346-4 ISBN 0-89130-347-2 pbk. 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 13 12 11 10 9

For our teachers JOHN V.A. FINE AND C. BRADFORD WELLES

Table of Contents Preface List of Abbreviations xi xv Chapter I. The Olympian Gods 1 A. The Divine World of Homer 1 B. The Gods of Classical Greece 16 Hesiod s Theogony (16) Zeus (19) C. Criticism of the Traditional Theology 23 The Pre-Socratics (23) The Sophists (24) The Tragedians (26) D. The Orphic Cosmogony 29 E. The Search for a Rational Theology: Plato and Aristotle 32 Chapter II. Heroes 39 A. The Ranks of the Gods 39 B. The Mythical Heroes 41 Theseus (41) Orestes (42) Thersander (43) Oedipus (44) Heracles (45) C. Men Who Became Heroes and Gods 49 Sophocles-Dexion (49) Lysander (49) Alexander the Great (50) D. The Cult of Asclepius 652 The Myth of Asclepius (52) Epiphanies (54) A Night in the Temple of Asciepius (55) The Formal Worship of Asciepius (56) Shrines of Asclepius (57): Epidauros (57); Sikyon (58); Athens (58) vii

viii CONTENTS E. Local Heroes: The Salaminioi 62 Chapter III. Public Religion 67 A. Ethics: Justice and the Gods 67 B. Delphic Piety 71 Croesus (71) The Morality of the Oracle (73) Consulting the Oracle (74) Oracular Responses from Delphi (75) C. Sacrifices 81 The Ceremony (81) The Rationale (82) Sacrificial Procedure (83) Sacrifice and Augury (84) The Swearing of Oaths (85) A Calendar of Sacrifices from Marathon (86) D. Festivals 89 A Festival of Apollo at Delos (89) The Panathenaic Festival (89) E. Sanctuaries and Their Administration 93 The Founding of the Cult of Pan in Athens (93) Sanctuary Regulations (93) The Lease of a Shrine (95) Assessments and Contributions to a Cult (96) Duties of a Priest (96) The Purchase of a Priesthood (97) F. Rural Cults and Customs 99 The World of Nature Spirits (99) Wayside Gods: Hecate, Apollo Agyieus, Herms (100) Water Nymphs (101) Harvest Festivals (102): The Thalysia at Syracuse (102); The Daphnephoria at Thebes (103); The Pyanepsia at Athens (103) Chapter IV. Private Religion 105 A. Family Religion 105 Rites of the Phratry (106) Rites of the Household (108) B. Personal Piety 111 Prayers (111) Dedications (113): The Acropolis at Athens (113); A Shrine at Phaleron (114); The Vani Cave (115); Xenophon s Shrine at Skillous (115) Epiphanies (116): The Muses Inspire Hesiod (117); The Dioskouroi Visit Phormion s House (118) Superstition and the Excesses of Religiosity (118)

CONTENTS ix C. The Orphic Way of Life 121 D. The Pythagorean Way of Life 122 E. Platonic Mysticism 124 Chapter V. Mystery Cults 127 A. The Mysteries at Phlya 127 B. The Eleusinian Mysteries 129 The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (129) Cult Regulations (138) The Meaning and Blessings of Initiation (140) Rites and Ceremonies (143) C. The Cults of Dionysus 146 Ecstatic Worship of Dionysus (146) Rites of Dionysus in Sikyon (150) The Anthesteria (150) The Rural Dionysia (154) The City Dionysia (155) D. The Mysteries of the Kabeiroi at Samothrace 158 Chapter VI. Death and Afterlife 163 A. Views of Death; Burial Rites 163 Homer s Iliad (163) Homer s Odyssey (165) The Lyric Poets (166) Death and the Family (167) Death and the State: Thucydides (170) The Orphic View of the Afterlife (172) Polygnotus Picture of the Underworld (174) Plato on the Afterlife (178) Epitaphs (180) B. The Nature of the Soul: Ghosts 185 Glossary of Transliterated Words and Technical Terms 191 Subject Index 195 Index of Ancient Sources 207

Preface to the Corrected Edition Since its initial publication in 1979, Sources for the Study of Greek Religion has sold nearly 20,000 copies, marking it as an essential resource in the field of classical studies. Thirty years later, it remains a standard classroom resource, and to celebrate this anniversary, we thought it appropriate to present a corrected edition of the volume in a new, attractive, and electronic-friendly format. Beyond the correction of minor errors and use of footnotes rather than endnotes, the reader will find that the present volume remains true to the original edition. The Society of Biblical Literature is pleased to present this corrected edition of Sources for the Study of Greek Religion in the hopes that it will inspire a new generation of classicists and religious historians. The Society of Biblical Literature, 2009 xi

Preface It was Homer and Hesiod, wrote Herodotus (Histories II. 53), who first compiled genealogies of the gods for the Greeks, gave the gods their titles, defined their honors and skills, and described their appearances. A sourcebook on Greek religion almost inevitably, therefore, begins with Homer, who reflects the civilization of Bronze Age Greece combined with features from the five centuries which intervened between the Bronze Age and his own time in the eighth century b.c., and with Hesiod, who reflects more particularly the Greece of the eighth and early seventh centuries b.c., when the map of classical Greece was beginning to emerge. The basic social unit in the centuries following Homer and Hesiod was the polis or city-state, usually composed of several tribal groups which were in turn composed of smaller clans and families, all of which had their own special religious traditions. In the eighth, seventh, and sixth centuries, the mainland Greeks were subject to new cultural influences from the Near East through the Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor and through direct contacts with Egypt and Syria. In these same centuries the Greeks launched an extensive colonization effort toward Sicily and southern Italy, and toward the Black Sea; new techniques in political organization, such as tyranny and democracy, emerged. At the same time diplomatic relations among the states were encouraged by the growth of such religious centers as Delphi and Olympia. By the beginning of the fifth century, Athens, Sparta, and Corinth had emerged as the strongest of the Greek cities, and the pressure of foreign invasion from Persia helped to make the Greeks conscious of a Panhellenic unity: this unity was seldom expressed in political terms, but is marked in the religious exercises of the clan, the tribe, and the state, which gave citizens a feeling of harmony, well-being, and shared traditions. The end of the fifth century, however, saw serious challenges to the traditional religion: the violence of the Peloponnesian War and the collapse of Athens, the probing skepticism of the Sophists, the generally perceived decay of traditional standards and values, led many to reassess their religious attitudes. In the late-fifth century and the fourth we find some professing atheism, others constructing sophisticated philosophical systems, others embracing mysticism or superstition or the cult of some such nurturing god as Asclepius: all together exhibit a tendency toward perxiii

xiv PREFACE sonal choice in religion, in contrast to the group-oriented practices which seemed to dominate earlier. Such a general summary of the religious trends of classical Greece has considerable validity, yet the sources show that common religious ceremonies continued after 400 b.c., and also that individuals expressed their private devotion to a god before 400 b.c. One of the functions of a sourcebook about the ancient Greeks is to demonstrate the complexity and immediacy of the subject by allowing the Greeks to speak for themselves. In editing this collection of sources, our intention has been to present a representative sample of familiar and unfamiliar texts illustrating the range (rather than the totality) of the Greek religious experience, from the most abstract speculations of Plato and Aristotle to the most homely domestic ritual. We have tried to provide modern, intelligible translations of the literature and documents which the ancient world has left us on this subject, and through them to demonstrate how the Greeks worshipped their gods and what they themselves said about their religious beliefs and practices. Our primary focus is on the four centuries from Homer to Alexander the Great, although passages from later antiquity have been included freely when they cast some important light on archaic and classical Greek practices. In general, however, we have not dealt explicitly with the religious attitudes of the Hellenistic and Roman periods because this has already been done by F.C. Grant in his Hellenistic Religions (Indianapolis and New York, 1953) and Ancient Roman Religion (New York, 1957). The very varied material has been organized into six chapters, dealing with (1) the traditional Olympian gods and (2) their chthonian counterparts represented by the heroes; with (3) public cult practices and (4) more private concerns of family and individual; with (5) the mystery cults and their promises; and with (6) death and the nature of the soul. The categories overlap to some extent, and some of the general sections and specific passages might easily have been put in a different part of the book. The index should, however, provide help for anyone who wants to pull together all the references to a single topic, as for example sacrificial regulations or the Orphics. Within each category, we have attempted to arrange the selections so as to illustrate the historical development of attitudes, beliefs and practices. In transliterating Greek, it has seemed reasonable, if not entirely consistent, to use a Latinized spelling for names in which this has become normal English usage, and in other cases to follow a more literal pattern. It is a pleasure to be able to acknowledge the help we have received in preparing this collection of sources suggestions as to content and format from Norman R. Petersen, Jr., Wayne A. Meeks, and Harold Y. McCulloch; the typing of preliminary drafts by Rosemary Lane, Louise Gilotti, Donna Chenail, and Eileen Sahady; the preparation of camera-ready copy by Marla Krystkowiak; the patient support

PREFACE xv of Patricia Rice and Paula Carew; and grants from the Faculty Welfare Committee of St. Scholastica College and the Division I research fund of Williams College. Our special debts of training, inspiration and the fostering of our interest in the documentation of ancient Greek religion are acknowledged in the dedication. David G. Rice John E. Stambaugh College of St. Scholastica Williams College Duluth, Minnesota 55811 Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267 June, 1979

List of Abbreviations Diels-Kranz H. Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, rev. by W. Kranz. Berlin, 5th ed. ff., 1934 ff. FGrH F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker. Berlin, 1923 1927; Leiden, 1940 1958. IC M. Guarducci, Inscriptiones Creticae. Rome, 1934 ff. IG Inscriptiones Graecae. Berlin, 1873 ff. LGS L. Ziehen, Leges Graecorum Sacrae e Titulis Collectae, Pars Altera. Leipzig, 1906. LSAM F. Sokolowski, Lois Sacrées de l Asie Mineure. Paris, 1955. LSCG F. Sokolowski, Lois Sacrees des Cites Grecques, Supplment. Paris, 1962. SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. Leiden. SIG3 G. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, 3rd ed. Leipzig, 1915 1924. xvii

Chapter 1. The Olympian Gods A. The Divine World of Homer It was one of the many achievements of the first poets of Greece, in particular Homer and Hesiod, to create for the Greeks and for Western man the pantheon of deities we call the gods of Olympus. The poets were not afraid to create their portraits of the gods and goddesses fully, showing in their stories not only divine power but divine frailty and weaknesses. The Greeks depicted these creations in plastic forms, in temples and shrines, on fresco and in sculpture, so that the gods not only symbolized the inexplicable forces at work in history, but became representatives of the best and worst of Greek civilization. The following passages from Homer, who lived at some point prior to 700 B.C., are selected to represent the range of poetic description of the gods; Homer functioned for the Greeks in some ways as the Bible functions for Christians, as the source and starting point for man s curiosity about the divine. For further reading see W.K.C. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods (Boston, 1951); H.J. Rose, Religion in Greece and Rome (New York, 1959). For the Homeric poems themselves, see G.S. Kirk, The Songs of Homer (Cambridge, 1962); M.I. Finley, The World of Odysseus (New York, 1965). A particularly useful treatment of the intellectual history of the Greeks may be found in Bruno Snell, The Discovery of the Mind (Eng. tr., New York, 1960), especially pages 1 42. (Homer, Iliad I. 493 610.) But when the twelfth day came, then all the gods who live forever returned to Olympus, all together, and Zeus was their leader. But Thetis did not forget the commands of her son, but rose from the sea and at dawn went up to great heaven and Olympus. She found the son of Kronos, Zeus of the wide-resounding voice, sitting apart from all the rest of the gods, on the very topmost peak of manyridged Olympus. She sat before him and held his knees with her left hand, but with her right she grasped him beneath the chin and in supplication spoke to Zeus the lordly son of Kronos. O Father Zeus, if I ever aided you in word or deed 1