05x03 - religion in the ancient greek household
DESCRIPTION
CLT3371 University of Florida Fall 2007TRANSCRIPT
Religion in the Ancient Greek Household 9/21/07 2:54 PM
← Family rituals in ancient Greece
← Religion tied to rhythms of life: “rite of passage” defined by cults
Birth: Hera, Eileithyia, Artemis
Adulthood: Zeus Phratrios & Athena Phratria (“of the clan”)
o Apatouria festival: transition from family to polis
Marriage: Hera, Aphrodite (two sides of love/marriage)
o Gamelia sacrifice at Apatouria: debut as husband & wife
Death: Hermes Psychopompos; Hades & Persephone
o Ancestor cult: continuity of generations through choai
o Ex: women who die in childbirth “brides of Artemis”
← The ancient Greek household (oikos)
← Oikos: extended household
Father, mother, children, elders, slaves & ex-slaves
← Family structure
Rigid patriarchy
o Father has power of life and death over members of oikos
o Adult males leave house, remain under living father’s power
o Equal division of father’s possessions on his death
Limited primogeniture (primacy of firstborn)
Daughters have some inheritance rights in some poleis
Virilocal marriage: bride joins oikos of husband
o Wife severs cult ties with parental home
← Religious topography of the oikos
← Outside: family agricultural cults (Demeter)
Appearance from outside: walled off
← Perimeter of house: apotropaic (“turning away [evils]”) deities
Apollo aguileos (“of the street”), Herkles:
o Common guardians of street/house boundary
Zeus Herkeios: guardian of those within oikos
← Inside: hearth, spritiaul center of oikos (cp. Polis)
Hestia (genering of deities)
Gendering of space: separate women’s & men’s quarters
o Separate spheres of cult activity
← Religion & the ancient Greek family: the father
← Head priest of oikos
Regular observance at shrines (Zeus Herkeios, Hestia, etc.)
← Ancestor worship
Maintain tomb: filial duty open to public scrutiny
Yearly choai: continuity of household cult
← Symposia: social/political drinking parties
Father defines social/political allegiances of household
← Represents oikos in larger cults
Genos: group defined by birth (mthic bloodline; hero cult)
deme: political district within polis
phratry: “tribe” (Zeus Phratrios; hero cult)
← Religion & ancient Greek family: the mother
← Women’s roles in cult reflect roels in society generally
Virilocal: learns oikos cults from husband ( and mother in law)
Cult provides opportunities to leave oikos (burial, female cults)
← Assits father with cults inside house
Prepares bodies for burial; role in ancestor worship
← Responsible for fertility cults
Artemis, Asklepios: childbirth
Hera: mother assits in marriage of children
← Represents oikos in larger female-only cults
Athenian Thesmophoria: female-only Demeter festival before
sowing
o Initiation rites (young women equated with fertile field)
o Piglet sacrifice (agricultural fertility)
o Aischrology (ritual obscenity)
← Religion & the anceitn Greek family: children
← Daughters
Early marriage leading to integration into husband’s oikos
o Age / power differential
o Dowry: daughters a liability
Limited role in oikos cult
o Family cults abandoned with marriage
Represents oikos in polis cults (opportunity to interact in public)
o Artemis Brauronia: girls as bears (arktoi)
Symbolic wild life before being tamed
← Son
Question of legitimacy: father recognizes son in ritual setting
o Apatouria festival: formal integration into community
“ionic” festival: celebrated in Attica (Athens), Ionia
deities: Zeus Phratrios, Athena Phratria, Apollo Patroos
preparation for adulthood/citizenship
o ephebate: prep for full citizenship & assumption of cult duties
o City Dionysia: performance (of women’s roles) in plays
choruses
Learns oikos rituals from father
Joins father in representing oikos in larger cults
← Religion & the ancient Greek family: slaves
← Integration into the community
Induction ceremony at household Hestia shrine
o Defined ritually as part of household (range of experiences)
← Role in cults and rituals
Assist, but generally excluded from sacrifice, festivals
Perhaps a role in processions
Major exception: mystery religions
o Eleusinian Mysteries (Demeter), Dionysiac Mysteries
Asylum: right of refuge in sacred space
Slave rituals, cult (probable)
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