Books by Hedvig von Ehrenheim
Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen, eds. Reading Roman Emotions. Visual and Textual Interpretations. Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Series IN 4º, 64, 2020
This volume is a contribution to the study of culturally bound emotions and emotional response in... more This volume is a contribution to the study of culturally bound emotions and emotional response in ancient Rome. Approaches to the study of ancient emotions and how they were culturally specific, appreciated and understood have recently come to the centre of attention, but not so much in the visual as in the literary culture. When socially and affectively contextualized, the material culture of ancient Rome is a potential goldmine of information with regard to emotions. The chapters in the present volume take the reader on a tour through various cases that demonstrate how emotions were expressed through the arts. The tour starts with a fresh view of how emotion history can be used to recover feelings from the visual culture of the past. Visual culture includes animated performances, and the reader is invited to revel in Roman drama, oratory, and love poetry. Words are often clear, but can images reveal laughter and joy, sadness, grief and mourning, virtue and anger? This volume argues that yes, they can, and through the study of emotions it is also possible to obtain a deeper understanding of the Romans and their social and cultural codes.
Available online at https://books.openedition.org/pulg/15905
Hedvig VON EHRENHEIM, Greek Incubation Rituals in Classical and Hellenistic Times
282 pages, 10... more Hedvig VON EHRENHEIM, Greek Incubation Rituals in Classical and Hellenistic Times
282 pages, 10 figures.
ISBN : 978-2-87562-085-9
This study documents and analyses the structure and function of Greek incubation rituals in Classical and Hellenistic times addressing all relevant and extant literary and epigraphical testimonia concerning the rites and rules surrounding incubation. It shows that previous approaches, which treated incubation as a Chthonian phenomenon, as a rite of passage, or as comparable to initiation in mystery cults are not supported by the available testimonia on these rites.
An analysis of the social context of the rites surrounding incubation shows they differed surprisingly little from the rites performed by other worshippers at these sanctuaries. Various ritual factors are explored in order to explain why ordinary, or low-intensity, rites could create a high-intensity experience for the worshipper. Further, the structure of incubation rituals is examined in the light of the origins and development of the practice in Greece. Contrary to previous theories on the origins of incubation, it is argued that the phenomenon began as an exclusive consultation technique for priests, magistrates and select worshippers and was a natural variant of oracular techniques in Archaic and Early Classical Greece. When incubation became accessible to everyone in Classical society as a part of the cult of Asklepios, rituals for the masses were then created.
The ritual did not have one, coherent structure across all the sanctuaries which offered it; rather, the ritual practice adapted to local customs and factors such as the size of the cult. Some rites for intermediaries were kept, but new motivational factors were added, which resulted in very popular cults.
Papers by Hedvig von Ehrenheim
This paper argues that the epiphany of a god or hero in incubation cults
was tied to a certain l... more This paper argues that the epiphany of a god or hero in incubation cults
was tied to a certain locality above all because the assignation of one place of epiphany for the group incubating made it easier for them to imagine the presence of the divine. In particular the iamata of Epidauros as well as the Lex Sacra Hallenstrasse from Pergamon are examined with respect to this question.
Klio, 2023
Scholars have long highlighted the importance of water for rituals in
Greek sanctuaries, but li... more Scholars have long highlighted the importance of water for rituals in
Greek sanctuaries, but little is known about when and how it was used in prac-
tice. Considering the importance attributed to water in rituals at Greek sanctu-
aries, this article aims to explore water as a purificatory agent for humans and
things and as an offering, pure or water mixed with wine, to the gods in the form
of libations. Throughout the paper we argue that these activities were located on a
spectrum from mundane to religious and can be viewed within a “spatio-temporal”
framework where they functioned as visual cues in order to structure activities. To
achieve this, we closely and critically examine the empirical material, epigraphic
and literary, supported by archaeological and iconographic evidence.
This paper argues that the cult of Asklepios developed and spread fast due to a shift in mentalit... more This paper argues that the cult of Asklepios developed and spread fast due to a shift in mentality in Classical Greece. This change concerned both who might communicate directly with the gods in dreams, as well as the development of a new way of envisaging healing. It is argued that the notion that anybody could receive a god-sent dream, as seen in numerous incubation sanctuaries, reflects a change in mentality in Classical times. It is further argued that religious healing in the cult of Asklepios was influenced by the development of Greek medicine in Archaic times, and the ease and low expense of consulting a Hippokratic doctor in Classical times.
Religious festivals in ancient Greece and Rome, where slaves were given a holiday or the roles of... more Religious festivals in ancient Greece and Rome, where slaves were given a holiday or the roles of master and slaves were reversed, have been labelled ‘slave festivals’ This paper first high-lights structural variations in different Greek slave festivals. Second, the function of the festivals is discussed, putting the previously suggested purpose as a ‘safety valve’ in the psychological framework of ‘coping factors’. It is argued that whereas slave festivals offering a holiday did serve as a ‘safety valve’, the festivals with a strict and temporary theme of reversal did not help with coping. The suggestion follows, that slave festivals served a religious function for the masters, balancing their good fortune against the slaves’ harsh fate.
In a few ritual norms, the activity denoted by the expression κατὰ κεφαλῆς λούσασθαι, to wash fro... more In a few ritual norms, the activity denoted by the expression κατὰ κεφαλῆς λούσασθαι, to wash from the head down, is prescribed for the worshipper. It can relate to purification from a particular miasma, such as meat, or before a certain activity, such as incubation or oath taking. This paper is an attempt to contextualize these instances and highlight possible associations with Eastern cultic habits, and, tentatively, possible
connotations between washing the head and purifying the mind.
Trends in Classics, 2021
The article analyses possible placebo effects that Late Antique religious healing might have had.... more The article analyses possible placebo effects that Late Antique religious healing might have had. It focuses on healings believed to have been sent in dreams to worshippers, both in pagan and Early Christian tradition. It also investigates how possible placebo effects might have served to propagate and spread the particular cults (be it the cult of Asklepios, or the Early Christian cults of martyrs). The paper seeks to integrate modern placebo research with the ancient accounts of healings, answering the following question: is it possible that the placebo effect (above all relief of pain) was activated in ancient times by the same factors as seen in experiments today (e. g. effect of the healer's persona, ritualized behaviour, and above all belief in the cure)? The scope of the paper is at the end broadened to touch upon the question to what degree ancient religious healing offered a socially well-established method of handling illnesses psychologically and fill the need to act, even if a cure as such was not a probable result.
Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen, eds. Reading Roman Emotions. Visual and Textual Interpretations. Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Series in 4º, 64, 2020
Beginning of chapter: There is a fresh interest in the role that emotions have played in historic... more Beginning of chapter: There is a fresh interest in the role that emotions have played in historical processes and past events. Revolutions have for example not only been driven by ideologies, but also by societal demands for changes, fuelled by collective emotions. Religious transformations have often derived from dissimilar readings of holy texts, but also from collective experiences of disappointment and hope. Political sympathies have been nurtured and emotions have been manipulated in public as well as in the private sphere. The more we understand of the role that emotions have played in the past, the better equipped we will be at understanding the functions and forces of emotions in present-day cultures and societies. Throughout history, visual and textual media have been used to convey messages or as tools for ideological, political, religious, or other cultural and social purposes. The material culture of ancient Rome is a potential gold mine of information with regard to emotions when socially and affectively contextualized. This volume is a contribution to the study of culturally bound emotions and emotional response in ancient Rome. Approaches to the study of ancient emotions and how they were culturally specific, appreciated and understood have recently come to the centre of attention, but not so much in the visual as in the literary culture. One of the reasons may be the imminent danger of drawing arbitrary conclusions on the basis of individual interpretations of what something may “look like” or “seem like”. Fear of subjectively drawn conclusions has discouraged psychological studies of art, and rightly so...
Kernos 32, 2019
This paper analyses the cause of disease as perceived in Classical and Hellenistic
Greece, and in... more This paper analyses the cause of disease as perceived in Classical and Hellenistic
Greece, and in particular in the iamata of Epidauros, cure inscriptions collected and set up in
the sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros in 350 BC, some of which date back to c. 450 BC. It is
concluded that the iamata reflect a plurality of explanations of disease that co-existed in ancient
Greece and complemented each other.
Journal of Archaeology and Ancient History (JAAH), 2019
This article presents the newly started project “Water at ancient Greek sanctuaries: medium of di... more This article presents the newly started project “Water at ancient Greek sanctuaries: medium of divine presence or commodity for mortal visitors?”, the aim of which is to explore water usage at Greek sanctuaries in Archaic to Hellenistic times. In order to do so the project is divided into three separate studies. The first is how water was used in sanctuaries: where was water accessible through natural and man-made infrastructure, for what activities was it utilized, and which of these can be considered ritual and/or utilitarian? The second focuses on the means by which water was utilized, i.e. how was water management infrastructure adapted to ritual and utilitarian needs, and how did the need and access to water shape ritual and utilitarian activity at the sanctuary? The third part is an overarching analysis, combining the first two parts, which will expand our knowledge of perceptions of human activities in the god’s dwelling: how did ritual and utilitarian uses of water differ at a perceptual level?
In Late Antiquity the Greco-Roman religions were replaced by
Christianity, which developed from ... more In Late Antiquity the Greco-Roman religions were replaced by
Christianity, which developed from a small movement to the leading
religion of the whole Mediterranean. Inevitably some old traditions
were incorporated into the new religion, but one should not assume that
the processes of syncretism were simple and straightforward. In some
cults of the martyrs, pilgrims and locals sought healing by sleeping in
their churches and seeking visions of the holy figures in their dreams
(the phenomenon is called “incubation”). This article argues against
Early Christian incubation being a ritual that was copied and taken over
from the pagan incubation ritual, as has been stated in previous research,
and shows that many different factors served to create this somewhat
unorthodox Christian healing ritual.
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Books by Hedvig von Ehrenheim
282 pages, 10 figures.
ISBN : 978-2-87562-085-9
This study documents and analyses the structure and function of Greek incubation rituals in Classical and Hellenistic times addressing all relevant and extant literary and epigraphical testimonia concerning the rites and rules surrounding incubation. It shows that previous approaches, which treated incubation as a Chthonian phenomenon, as a rite of passage, or as comparable to initiation in mystery cults are not supported by the available testimonia on these rites.
An analysis of the social context of the rites surrounding incubation shows they differed surprisingly little from the rites performed by other worshippers at these sanctuaries. Various ritual factors are explored in order to explain why ordinary, or low-intensity, rites could create a high-intensity experience for the worshipper. Further, the structure of incubation rituals is examined in the light of the origins and development of the practice in Greece. Contrary to previous theories on the origins of incubation, it is argued that the phenomenon began as an exclusive consultation technique for priests, magistrates and select worshippers and was a natural variant of oracular techniques in Archaic and Early Classical Greece. When incubation became accessible to everyone in Classical society as a part of the cult of Asklepios, rituals for the masses were then created.
The ritual did not have one, coherent structure across all the sanctuaries which offered it; rather, the ritual practice adapted to local customs and factors such as the size of the cult. Some rites for intermediaries were kept, but new motivational factors were added, which resulted in very popular cults.
Papers by Hedvig von Ehrenheim
was tied to a certain locality above all because the assignation of one place of epiphany for the group incubating made it easier for them to imagine the presence of the divine. In particular the iamata of Epidauros as well as the Lex Sacra Hallenstrasse from Pergamon are examined with respect to this question.
Greek sanctuaries, but little is known about when and how it was used in prac-
tice. Considering the importance attributed to water in rituals at Greek sanctu-
aries, this article aims to explore water as a purificatory agent for humans and
things and as an offering, pure or water mixed with wine, to the gods in the form
of libations. Throughout the paper we argue that these activities were located on a
spectrum from mundane to religious and can be viewed within a “spatio-temporal”
framework where they functioned as visual cues in order to structure activities. To
achieve this, we closely and critically examine the empirical material, epigraphic
and literary, supported by archaeological and iconographic evidence.
connotations between washing the head and purifying the mind.
Greece, and in particular in the iamata of Epidauros, cure inscriptions collected and set up in
the sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros in 350 BC, some of which date back to c. 450 BC. It is
concluded that the iamata reflect a plurality of explanations of disease that co-existed in ancient
Greece and complemented each other.
Christianity, which developed from a small movement to the leading
religion of the whole Mediterranean. Inevitably some old traditions
were incorporated into the new religion, but one should not assume that
the processes of syncretism were simple and straightforward. In some
cults of the martyrs, pilgrims and locals sought healing by sleeping in
their churches and seeking visions of the holy figures in their dreams
(the phenomenon is called “incubation”). This article argues against
Early Christian incubation being a ritual that was copied and taken over
from the pagan incubation ritual, as has been stated in previous research,
and shows that many different factors served to create this somewhat
unorthodox Christian healing ritual.
282 pages, 10 figures.
ISBN : 978-2-87562-085-9
This study documents and analyses the structure and function of Greek incubation rituals in Classical and Hellenistic times addressing all relevant and extant literary and epigraphical testimonia concerning the rites and rules surrounding incubation. It shows that previous approaches, which treated incubation as a Chthonian phenomenon, as a rite of passage, or as comparable to initiation in mystery cults are not supported by the available testimonia on these rites.
An analysis of the social context of the rites surrounding incubation shows they differed surprisingly little from the rites performed by other worshippers at these sanctuaries. Various ritual factors are explored in order to explain why ordinary, or low-intensity, rites could create a high-intensity experience for the worshipper. Further, the structure of incubation rituals is examined in the light of the origins and development of the practice in Greece. Contrary to previous theories on the origins of incubation, it is argued that the phenomenon began as an exclusive consultation technique for priests, magistrates and select worshippers and was a natural variant of oracular techniques in Archaic and Early Classical Greece. When incubation became accessible to everyone in Classical society as a part of the cult of Asklepios, rituals for the masses were then created.
The ritual did not have one, coherent structure across all the sanctuaries which offered it; rather, the ritual practice adapted to local customs and factors such as the size of the cult. Some rites for intermediaries were kept, but new motivational factors were added, which resulted in very popular cults.
was tied to a certain locality above all because the assignation of one place of epiphany for the group incubating made it easier for them to imagine the presence of the divine. In particular the iamata of Epidauros as well as the Lex Sacra Hallenstrasse from Pergamon are examined with respect to this question.
Greek sanctuaries, but little is known about when and how it was used in prac-
tice. Considering the importance attributed to water in rituals at Greek sanctu-
aries, this article aims to explore water as a purificatory agent for humans and
things and as an offering, pure or water mixed with wine, to the gods in the form
of libations. Throughout the paper we argue that these activities were located on a
spectrum from mundane to religious and can be viewed within a “spatio-temporal”
framework where they functioned as visual cues in order to structure activities. To
achieve this, we closely and critically examine the empirical material, epigraphic
and literary, supported by archaeological and iconographic evidence.
connotations between washing the head and purifying the mind.
Greece, and in particular in the iamata of Epidauros, cure inscriptions collected and set up in
the sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros in 350 BC, some of which date back to c. 450 BC. It is
concluded that the iamata reflect a plurality of explanations of disease that co-existed in ancient
Greece and complemented each other.
Christianity, which developed from a small movement to the leading
religion of the whole Mediterranean. Inevitably some old traditions
were incorporated into the new religion, but one should not assume that
the processes of syncretism were simple and straightforward. In some
cults of the martyrs, pilgrims and locals sought healing by sleeping in
their churches and seeking visions of the holy figures in their dreams
(the phenomenon is called “incubation”). This article argues against
Early Christian incubation being a ritual that was copied and taken over
from the pagan incubation ritual, as has been stated in previous research,
and shows that many different factors served to create this somewhat
unorthodox Christian healing ritual.