ISBN : 9780199696093
Festivals were the heartbeat of Greek and Roman society and fulfilled significant roles in its social and political organization and within its institutions. Setting the rhythm of the year, festivals were a common denominator for a wide-ranging series of phenomena that concerned a large area of social relationships: social and political processes were formed, maintained, altered, and sanctioned through religious celebrations, as well as uniting the populace in common acts centred on common symbols. The study of religious festivals and the fundamental social functions which they filled can significantly expand our insights into understanding the Greco-Roman world, the social processes it went through, and the symbols it used. Greek and Roman Festivals addresses the multi-faceted and complex nature of Greco-Roman festivals and analyses the connections that existed between them, as religious and social phenomena, and the historical dynamics that shaped them. The volume contains twelve articles which form an interdisciplinary perspective of classical scholarship, ranging from archaeology, history, and history of religions, to philology.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABBREVIATIONS
LIST OF FIGURES
INTRODUCTION: SOME CONCEPTS OF ANCIENT FESTIVALS
1. What is a Greco-Roman Festival? A Polythetic Approach
2. Ancient Views on Festival: A Case of Near Eastern Mediterranean Koine
3. Greek Festivals and the Ritual Process: An Inquiry into the Olympia-cum-Heraia and the Dionysia
4. Pelops Joins the Party: Transformations of a Hero Cult within the Festival at Olympia
5. Content and Form: Some Considerations on Greek Festivals and Archaeology
6. The Political Process in the Public Festival: The Panathenaic Festival of Athens
7. Talking of Festival: The Status of Choruses and Choregia
8. Appended Festival: The Coordination and Combination of Traditional Civic and Ruler Cult Festivals in the Hellenistic and Roman East
9. The Feriae Latinae
10. The Festivals of the Forum Boarium Area: Reflections on the Construction of Complex Representations of Roman Identity
11. Public and Publicity: Long-Term Changes in Religious Festivals during the Roman Republic
12. The Cult of the Great Mother in Imperial Rome: The Roman and the Foreign
GENERAL INDEX