Levels Of Religious Participation- Oikos And Deme

Question 1

in athens, a typical household had 3 household shrines

Zeus Ktesios

olkos shrines and spaces

Answer 1

Protector of property and
wealth. Location of shrine in the storeroom.
Represented by a two-handled vase draped in
a white woollen ribbon, filled with seeds, water
and olive oil.

Question 2

in athens, a typical home had three household shrines

Zeus Herkeios

sacred olkos shrines and spaces

Answer 2

‘Zeus of the Fence’ protected
the enclosure of the house and his statue
therefore stood in the courtyard, around which
the house was structured. He was often de
picted with a snake to ward off evil.

Question 3

in athens, a typical home had three household shrines

Apollo Agyeios

sacred olkos shrines and spaces

Answer 3

protected the house from
outside. harm. He was represented by a statu
ette, by a small pillar or by a statue of Hera
cles, placed by the door.

Question 4

olkos shrines and spaces

hearth

Answer 4

there was the hearth, dedicated to
Hestia, who was believed to look after the family
members. The hearth was a sacred space: rituals
of initiation into the family took place here.

Question 5

sacred olkos shrines and spaces

the herm

Answer 5

Outside the house was the herm. This was a rec
tangular pillar with the bearded head of the god
Hermes at the top and a phallus further down.
Located outside the house by the door. Had an
apotropaic (protective) function: the idea was that
the herm would ward off evil spirits.

Question 6

religous roles within the olkos

father of the household

Answer 6

the head of the household and so re
sponsible for family religion. Performed ceremo
nies at the oikos shrines. Fathers could do things
‘their own way’ to some extent
Fathers also took charge of looking after family
tombs, including an annual commemoration rite.
They had to initiate sons into the phratry (a
division of the Athenian state).

Question 7

relogous roles within the olkos

father of the household being shown doing things ‘their own way’

Answer 7

• Isaeus 8.16—Isaeus’ grandfather, Ciron, was
  ‘especially serious’ about honouring Zeus
  Ktesios—only family allowed to attend rites.
• Contrast this with Antiphon 1.15-18, where we
  are told that one Athenian invited his slave
  mistress and a male friend to honour Zeus
  Ktesios.

Question 8

religous roles within the olkos

mother/senior women

Answer 8

key role in preparing deceased family members for burial. Evidence of women doing this goes back to Mycenaean artistic representations on burial chests at Tanagra. Mothers also expected to bear children—religion came into this when they prayed for divine assistance, shown by women’s votive offerings at heal
ing shrines, e.g., images of breasts and items of
children’s clothing left at the sanctuary of Artemis
at Brauron, 30km south of Athens.

Question 9

deme religion

Answer 9

In Athens, each deme had its own religious events. A fourth-century inscription preserves the sacred
calendar of Erchia, a rural deme of about 3,000 residents. This tells us that the deme had twenty-five
days of sacrifices per year, involving fifty-nine animals in total. Many gods were worshipped—there were
six different Apollos and seven Zeuses, for instance—and some appear to have been unique to this
deme—e.g., the heroes Epops, Leucaspis and Medeius. Being a rural deme, Erchia had a special agricultural festival in the autumn, perhaps shared with neighbouring demes, called the Proerosia (‘Pre
Ploughing’). Each year, the deme sent representatives to Athens to make deme sacrifices to polis gods.