Review Steinhauer, Religious associations in Tyche 31 (2016)

2022

Klio

Kernos 14, 147-231, 2001

The study of the religions and cults of the Late Antiquity was based mostly by the Theological Schools on the characteristics of Gods, the theological teachings, the rituals or the ethnic tradition. Those elements werent always helpful in order to understand the development and the institution of the several religious traditions in the provinces and the social groups of the Roman Empire. We can find a lot of studies about the cult of Isis, Mithras, the Christianity and Judaism that are completely isolated by the social and religious context and as a result of this the researchers conclusions are generalities. Im going to present a different methodology for depicting the religious development of Roman Empire by categorizing the cults of this era according to a) the expansion of the religious community, b) the methods of promotion and establishment in several areas of the Roman Empire, and c) how a cult or a religious tradition is depended on a topos (religious place); especially, the topic/utopic depiction of the world (ecumene) can give us a lot of answers about the formation and mobility of these new cults. Those theoretical characteristics can help us form a new taxonomy for the cults of this particular era based not only on the factor of mobility but also on how people adapt and act after they have settled down on a new place.

1993

Religious associations have been the subject of exhaustive treatment during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. The present thesis does not aim to challenge their detailed examination, but rather to reassess the validity of their arguments and conclusions concerning Athenian cult associations, in the light of new pieces of evidence. The Introduction sets the chronological and methodological limits of the thesis. Chapters 1 to 4 discuss the available literary and epigraphical evidence concerning associations of orhogammaepsilononuepsilons, of heroes and goddesses, thetaiotaalphasigmaotaualphaiota and epsilonrhoalphanuiotasigmataualphaiota respectively as well as concommitant matters such as impiety and the relation between enktesis and approval of a cult. Chapter 5 is an attempt to criticise the view that the concept of juristic personality is a proper methodological tool for the comprehension of the associative life and to test a new approach based on the Aristotelian paradi...

The terms ‘religious association’ or ‘cult association’ are regularly used in scholarship, but their use and applicability have been in need of critical re-assessment for some time. In an attempt to find a more nuanced approach and gain a better understanding of the formation, organisation, and aims of ancient associations, this volume seeks to elucidate the wider context(s) of associations’ religious as well as social and cultural dimensions. A series of questions have shaped the volume’s agenda: How and to what extent did religion inform the activities of ancient associations? What was the role of so-called religious associations in promoting social, political, cultural, and/or economic life in post-classical poleis? What role did religion play in associations’ self-representation and in their relations with individuals, groups, local authorities, and/or external powers? To what extent were associations responsible (within their region or more widely) for religious innovation, for example the introduction of new cults or the introduction of new cultic practices? All in all, the papers demonstrate that important insights can be gained from considering the multifarious aspects of associations in close conjunction. They illustrate how the various dimensions (religious, social, funerary, etc.) of associative life are closely connected, with religious aspects usually taking a prominent place. These aspects informed and expressed associations’ internal dynamics as well as their outward group identity and self-representation. Cultic activities and affiliations ultimately inform us about the places of private collectivities in society more broadly.

Opuscula 5, 190-192, 2012

This book brings together the papers from a conference which took place at the Centre for the Study of Antiquity and the Department of Classical Archaeology at the University of Aarhus in 2004. The aim of the event was twofold, on the one hand, to establish a network of young scholars working on ancient Greek cult, and on the other, to let them discuss their ideas under the guidance of Richard Hamilton, a seasoned scholar, and subsequently develop them into articles. The scope of the volume is presented by one of the organisers, Jesper Tae Jensen, in a short preface. Then follow eight articles, seven of which were presented at the conference. The book is concluded with an index and a list of the contributors. The articles span a wide field including archaeology, philology, architecture, history, musicology and religion with the particular aim of combining the study of material culture with ancient texts and inscriptions. The first paper, by Lisbeth Bredholt Christensen, explores the definition of the term "cult" within various branches of scholarship, in particular in relation to concepts like "religion" and "ritual", stressing the great distinctions in the uses of the modern terminology. Within the study of religion "cult" has either been of very little interest or considered as "ritual lived" and discussed primarily within particular religions from an emic perspective with no attempt at applying an analytic apparatus, contrary to "ritual" which is treated as a category where different kinds can be discerned, such as transitory rituals, prayer, sacrifice etc, clearly an etic approach. Sociology (at least in the anglophone sphere) instead uses cult for private religions experience often contrasted with how institutionalized and mainstream religion is practiced. In prehistoric archaeology and Classical archaeology and history, on the other hand, cult is a central concept. In the study of prehistory, the preference of the terms cult, rituals and religious practice instead of religion can be explained by the nature of the archaeological evidence, which does not allow for the reconstructions of belief, the core of religion. Among Classicists the situation is partly the inverse, as cult is used as a synonym to religion rather than to ritual, an effect of the prominence of the written evidence which facilitates the interpretation of the archaeological material. This paper cautions for an unreflected use of terms, but there is are certainly further distinctions between the terminologies in different languages which should be addressed as well. Richard Hamilton analyses the relationship between altars, animals and baskets (kistai) on Attic votive reliefs from the Classical period by applying a statistical method, a chi-square test. The evidence consists of 224 reliefs dedicated to Zeus, Apollon, Artemis, Athena, the Nymphs, Asklepios and the banqueting hero, presented in a catalogue in an appendix. Several interesting observations are made. Of particular importance is the relation between altar and kiste, two elements that have to be taken as having different connotations in the reliefs. Altars more frequently occur with animals than with baskets, refuting van Straten's proposal that the kiste holds sacrificial cakes. There is also a variation between the deities and in reliefs for the Nymphs altars may have had a different meaning than to suggest animal sacrifice. A closer investigation of the kistai shows them to be is more strongly associated with children and family groups, in particular women, rather than with sacrifice of animals or vegetarian offerings, a conclusion backed up by a brief detour into Attic vase-painting. Statistics are rarely used in this way on ancient evidence, which makes the paper interesting, in particular, as pointed out by Hamilton, such an approach demands both a precise description of one's thesis and a consideration of the converse of the same thesis. On the other hand, the relationships revealed cannot be explained by this method. Bronwen Wickkiser's contribution examines the relation between the establishment of Asklepios in Athens and the plague, as the introduction of the god is usually taken to be a response to the local healing gods' incapacity to help. The only source informing us about the

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