Religion and Reconciliation in Greek Cities: The Sacred Laws of Selinus and Cyrene (Society for Classical Studies American Classical Studies, 54)

Two Greek cities which in their time were leading states in the Mediterranean world, Selinus in Sicily and Cyrene in Libya, set up inscriptions of the kind called sacred laws, but regulating worship on a larger scale than elsewhere - Selinus in the mid fifth century B.C., Cyrene in the late fourth. In different ways, the content and the format of both inscriptions are so unusual that they have baffled understanding. At Selinus, a large lead tablet with two columns of writing upside down to each other is thought to be a remedy for homicide pollution arising from civil strife, but most of it remains obscure and intractable. The gods who are named and the ritual that is prescribed have been misinterpreted in the light of literary works that dwell on the sensational. Instead, they belong to agrarian religion and follow a regular sequence of devotions, the upside-down columns being reversed midway through the year with magical effect. Gods and ritual were selected because of their appeal to ordinary persons. Selinus was governed by a long enduring oligarchy which made an effort, appearing also in the economic details of sacrifice, to reconcile rich and poor. At Cyrene, a long series of rules were displayed on a marble block in the premier shrine of Apollo. They are extremely diverse - both costly and trivial, customary and novel - and eighty years of disputation have brought no agreement as to the individual meaning or general significance. In fact this mixture of things is carefully arranged to suit a variety of needs, of rich and poor, of citizens of long standing and of new-comers probably of Libyan origin. In one instance the same agrarian deities appear as at Selinus. It is the work once more of a moderate oligarchy, which on other evidence proved its worth during the turbulent events of this period. Religion and Reconciliation in Greek Cities provides a revised text and a secure meaning for both documents, and interprets the gods, the ritual, and the social background in the light of much comparative material from other Greek cities. Noel Robertson's approach rejects the usual assumptions based on moralizing literary works and in doing so restores to us an ancient nature religion which Greek communities adapted to their own practical purposes. Religion and Reconciliation in Greek Cities (2010) ......Page 1 AMERICAN CLASSICAL STUDIES - VOLUME 54 ......Page 3 ISBN: 9780195394009......Page 5 Preface......Page 8 --> Contents......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 12 Sacred Laws......Page 16 The Sacred Law of Selinus......Page 17 The Sacred Law of Cyrene......Page 19 Religion and the City......Page 23 PART I - At Selinus, Rules throughout the Year......Page 26 Column A......Page 28 Column A......Page 29 Column B......Page 30 Column A......Page 31 Column B......Page 39 The Method......Page 44 The Place......Page 49 The Times......Page 51 A General Misunderstanding......Page 54 ‘‘Sop ’n’ Salt’’......Page 56 Households and Grain Bins......Page 59 What Was Said in the First Line?......Page 62 Disputed Meanings......Page 66 The Alleged Kotytia of Thrace and Athens......Page 70 The Kotytia in Sicily......Page 73 Solstice Festivals......Page 76 The Olympic Truce......Page 77 Synopsis......Page 82 The Mother’s Temples......Page 83 The Mother’s Votives......Page 85 The Tomb of Pelops......Page 87 The Mother’s Sanctuary on Kronion......Page 88 The Pattern of the Mother’s Worship......Page 91 Olympian Zeus......Page 93 A Good Time for All......Page 94 Synopsis......Page 98 Chronological Order......Page 99 Zeus Eumenes......Page 100 Eumenides and Erinyes......Page 101 Sicily......Page 102 Cyrene......Page 106 The Peloponnesus......Page 108 Other Cults......Page 111 The Story of Orestes......Page 112 The Eumenides in Orphic Genealogy......Page 114 Synopsis......Page 118 The Areopagus, Colonus, and Phlya......Page 119 The Role of Women......Page 121 The Festival Date......Page 122 The Torch-Bearing Procession......Page 126 The Torch-Bearing Rite within the Shrine......Page 129 The Torch-Bearing Rite in Myth......Page 131 The Torch-Bearing Rite in Orphic Genealogy......Page 135 Semnai Theai and Eumenides......Page 140 Synopsis......Page 142 The Two Locations......Page 143 The Name Myskos......Page 145 ‘‘In [the Land] of Agra’’......Page 147 Festivals of Agra......Page 151 Synopsis......Page 156 The Death of Cylon or of His Followers as Festival Aition......Page 157 The Death of the Regent Pausanias......Page 162 The Death of Similar Offenders at Locri, Argos, and Elsewhere......Page 163 Empedocles at Selinus......Page 165 Synopsis......Page 168 ‘‘Foul’’ and ‘‘Pure’’......Page 169 The Place of Sacrifice......Page 170 The Two Modes of Sacrifice......Page 173 A ‘‘Ninth’’ Portion......Page 174 Sprinkling and Smearing......Page 175 ‘‘Just as to the Heroes,’’ ‘‘Just as to the Gods’’......Page 177 Synopsis......Page 180 Old Theories and New Evidence......Page 181 Cults at Athens and Elsewhere......Page 182 Agrarian Deities Associated with Tritopatreis......Page 185 General Features of the Cult of Tritopatreis......Page 187 Tritopatreis in the Attic Chroniclers......Page 188 Tritopatreis in Poetry......Page 190 Tritopatreis according to the Grammarians......Page 192 Boreas and Others as ‘‘Sons-in-Law’’......Page 193 Tritopatreis ‘‘Sons-in-Law’’......Page 197 Synopsis......Page 198 Alternative Forms of Sacrifice......Page 199 The General Procedure......Page 200 The Shrine on Gaggera......Page 202 Xenophon’s Sacrifice......Page 206 ‘‘Threefold to a Beggar’’......Page 207 Synopsis......Page 212 ‘‘In the Land of Euthydamos’’......Page 213 The Sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros......Page 214 The Meaning of Malophoros......Page 216 Harvest Rites in Western Athens......Page 218 The Nymphs of the Hill Hyakinthos......Page 219 Zeus Milichios on the Hill Hyakinthos......Page 223 The Demiasi Gate......Page 224 Synopsis......Page 226 Problems in Column B......Page 227 The Announcement......Page 228 The Table Hospitality......Page 229 The Leave-Taking......Page 231 Different Kinds of Elasteros......Page 233 The Public Altar......Page 235 Any Sacrifice Thus Intended......Page 237 Slaying with One’s Own Hand......Page 238 Synopsis......Page 242 Elastoros ‘‘Avenger’’?......Page 243 Elasteros ‘‘Striker’’......Page 245 Cults of Zeus Elasteros......Page 248 The Ritual of the Lightning God......Page 253 The Lightning Season......Page 258 Lesser Powers of Lightning......Page 262 The Background......Page 266 PART II - At Cyrene, Rules for Every Need......Page 270 Text......Page 272 Column A......Page 273 Column B......Page 275 Column A......Page 276 Column B......Page 278 Notes on the Text......Page 279 Column A......Page 280 Column B......Page 286 The Setting and the Contents......Page 292 The Delphic Oracle......Page 293 Sacrifice at the City Gates......Page 294 In Search of Wood......Page 297 The Pollution of Intercourse and Childbirth......Page 298 The Problem......Page 300 Cults of Akamantes and Tritopateres......Page 302 The Lineage of Battus and of Onymastus......Page 305 The Altar of Akamantes Revealed?......Page 306 Hosia ‘‘Lawful Use’’......Page 308 A Bungled Sacrifice......Page 309 Synopsis......Page 312 Tithing as the Centerpiece of the Inscription......Page 313 Purification......Page 314 The Sacrificial Procedure......Page 315 The Several Occasions......Page 318 ‘‘Sacrifice in Front of the Altar’’......Page 321 Sacrifice and Social Standing in the Cult of Apollo......Page 324 The Tithed Class......Page 328 Synopsis......Page 332 Old Customs for Young Women......Page 333 The Bedchamber and the Bride-Place......Page 334 The Bride-to-Be......Page 336 The New Bride......Page 343 The Expectant Mother......Page 347 The Bear Priestess......Page 351 A Woman’s First Pregnancy......Page 355 The Little Bears......Page 358 Magic Purposes......Page 363 Synopsis......Page 366 The Curious Headings......Page 367 Purification by Magic......Page 370 Purification by Asking the Oracle......Page 374 Purification by the Customary Means of Supplicating and Sacrificing......Page 377 The Inscription......Page 384 The Background......Page 385 References......Page 388 Subject Index......Page 410 Authors......Page 422 Inscriptions......Page 426 At Selinus, Rules Throughout The Year. The Lead Tablet -- Displaying The Tablet -- A Household Offering -- The Kotytia And The Olympic Truce -- The Solstice Festival At Olympia -- Zeus Eumenês And The Eumenides -- The Semnai Theai -- Zeus Milichios In Spring -- Before The Harvest -- Tritopatreis Foul And Pure -- Tritopatreis As Wind Gods -- Zeus Milichios In Summer -- After The Harvest -- Hospitality For An Elasteros -- Zeus Elasteros And Other Lightning Gods -- Selinus, C. 450 B.c. -- At Cyrene, Rules For Every Need. The Inscription -- Some General Rules -- Akamantes And Tritopateres -- The Tithing Rules -- Rites Of Artemis -- Suppliant Purifications -- Cyrene, C. 335-324 B.c. Noel Robertson. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. At Selinus, rules throughout the year The lead tablet Displaying the tablet A household offering The Kotytia and the Olympic truce The solstice festival at Olympia Zeus Eumenes and the Eumenides The Semnai Theai Zeus Milichios in spring Before the harvest Tritopatreis foul and pure Tritopatreis as wind gods Zeus Milichios in summer After the harvest Hospitality for an Elasteros Zeus Elasteros and other lightning gods Selinus, c. 450 B.C. At Cyrene, rules for every need The inscription Some general rules Akamantes and Tritopateres The tithing rules Rites of Artemis Suppliant purifications Cyrene, c. 335-324.