ActaAth-4°, 59: The stuff of the gods (2024)

Published by the Swedish Institute at Athens. Distributed by Eddy.se AB at bokorder.se. All content is available with open access, use links below. The stuff of the gods. The material aspects of religion in ancient Greece Edited by Matthew Haysom, Maria Mili & Jenny Wallensten https://doi.org/10.30549/actaath-4-59 The “material turn” in the humanities and social sciences has brought about an expanded understanding of the material dimension of all cultural and social phenomena. In the Classics it has resulted in the breaking down of boundaries within the discipline and a growing interest in materiality within literature. In the study of religion cross-culturally new perspectives are emphasising religion as a material phenomenon and belief as a practice founded in the material world. This volume brings together experts in all aspects of Greek religion to consider its material dimensions. Chapters cover both themes traditionally approached by archaeologists, such as dedications and sacred space, and themes traditionally approached by philologists, such as the role of objects in divine power. They include a wide variety of themes ranging from the imminent material experience of religion for ancient Greek worshippers to the role of material culture in change and continuity over the long term. Chapter abstracts and…

Book reviews
Book review , Content / 2015-12-02

Opuscula 8 (2015) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Books reviewed in Opuscula 8 (2015) Anton Bonnier | E. Mackil, Creating a common polity. Religion, economy, and politics in the making of the Greek koinon (Hellenistic Culture and Society, 55), Berkeley, Los Angeles & London, University of California Press 2013, xvii + 593 pp. ISBN 9780520272507. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-08-09 Maria Mili | I. Polinskaya, A local history of Greek polytheism: Gods, people and the land of Aigina 800–400 BC (Religions in the Ancient Greek World, 178), Leiden, Brill 2013, xxviii + 690 pp. ISBN 978-90-04-23404-8. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-08-10 David Westberg | P. Ceccarelli, Ancient Greek letter writing: A cultural history (600 BC–150 BC), Oxford, Oxford University Press 2013, xviii + 435 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-967559-3. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-08-11 Otto Linderborg | E. Carawan, The Athenian amnesty and reconstructing the law. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2013, 310 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-967276-9. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-08-12 Adam J. Goldwyn | Daughters of Hecate: Women and magic in the ancient world, ed. K. B. Stratton with D.S. Kalleres, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2014. 552 pp. ISBN 0-19-534271-2. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-08-13 Bibliographical information ‘Book reviews’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom)…

ActaAth-8°, 21: Current approaches to religion in ancient Greece (2011)

Now available for purchase at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, Adlibris.com, and Bokorder.se Current approaches to religion in ancient Greece. Papers presented at a symposium at the Swedish Institute at Athens, 17–19 April 2008 By Matthew Haysom & Jenny Wallensten (eds.) In recent years Greek religion has emerged as one of the main topics for the study of ancient Greek society as a whole. This flourishing interest is certainly due to the recognition of the centrality of religion to Greek culture: religious beliefs and practices were connected to almost every aspect of the Greek world. This volume brings together fourteen contributions from a group of upcoming international scholars, presented at a conference held in the Swedish Institute at Athens and the British School at Athens in 2008. The papers take a wide range of approaches: archaeological, epigraphic, iconographical, philological and historical. They demonstrate the diversity of the subject, covering such issues as nineteenth-century historiography, cult epithets, the pantheon, regionalism, polis religion, the performance of ritual, the use of music in ritual, the accessibility of sacred space, and the visual aspects of dedications. The contributions bring new theoretical perspectives, seek to better understand ritual, and highlight the variety of Greek religion. Contents Preface…