Herodotus and Religion in the Persian WarsUniv of North Carolina Press, 21. juuli 2004 - 288 pages The two great Persian invasions of Greece, in 490 and 480-79 B.C., both repulsed by the Greeks, provide our best opportunity for understanding the interplay of religion and history in ancient Greece. Using the Histories of Herodotus as well as other historical and archaeological sources, Jon Mikalson shows how the Greeks practiced their religion at this pivotal moment in their history. In the period of the invasions and the years immediately after, the Greeks--internationally, state by state, and sometimes individually--turned to their deities, using religious practices to influence, understand, and commemorate events that were threatening their very existence. Greeks prayed and sacrificed; made and fulfilled vows to the gods; consulted oracles; interpreted omens and dreams; created cults, sanctuaries, and festivals; and offered dozens of dedications to their gods and heroes--all in relation to known historical events. By portraying the human situations and historical circumstances in which Greeks practiced their religion, Mikalson advances our knowledge of the role of religion in fifth-century Greece and reveals a religious dimension of the Persian Wars that has been previously overlooked. |
Contents
Introduction | 5 |
A Religious Account of the Persian Invasions | 15 |
Greek Gods Heroes and the Divine in the Persian Invasions | 111 |
Some Religious Beliefs and Attitudes of Herodotus | 136 |
Herodotus on the Origins of Greek Religion | 167 |
Notes | 197 |
239 | |
249 | |
260 | |
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Common terms and phrases
A. B. Lloyd according to Herodotus Acropolis Aeacidae Aegina Aeginetans Aeschylus Alcmaeonidae allies altar Apollo Arist Artabanus Artemis Artemisium Athenians Athens Attica barbarians battle of Plataea battle of Salamis beliefs bronze Burkert burned Cambyses claim Cleomenes Corinthians Croesus cult cultic Cyrus Darius dedications deities Delphi Delphians Delphic oracle Demeter describes Dionysus divine Dodona dream Egypt Egyptian epithets expedition festival fight Fontenrose Gauer goddess gods and heroes Greece Greek gods Greek religion Harrison Hellespont Heracles Herodo Herodotean Herodotus Herodotus gives Hesiod Hesiod and Homer Histories human hybris impiety king land later Leonidas Libyans Linforth Lydian mantis Marathon Mardonius Medes Mikalson Miltiades Müller Mycale names nian oath offerings omens Paus Pausanias Pelasgians Persian Wars phthonos Plut Plutarch poetic Polycrates Poseidon prayer Pritchett Pythia religious ritual rodotus sacrifice sanctuary ships Simonides Spartans statue temple Thebans Thebes Themistocles Thermopylae things tomb Xerxes Zeus Zeus Eleutherios