Scholarship Greek Religion

Question 1

Who said religion was intuitive vs reflective cognition?

Answer 1

Larson

Question 2

Who said Greek religion was far less organised than modern religions?

Answer 2

Seaford

Question 3

Who said the gods are the main source of comedy in the Iliad?

Answer 3

Redfield

Question 4

Who said Homer’s epics are full of really impressive gods who deserve the worship they receive?

Answer 4

Griffin

Question 5

What does Kearns say is the most general and far-reaching distinction between the gods in the Iliad and in worship?

Answer 5

In the Iliad gods are precisely defined individuals, where cult was concerned there were multiple versions of gods

Question 6

Who says we would be wrong to imagine divinity in Homer as purely fiction and not part of Greek religion?

Answer 6

Gould

Question 7

Who says that in Homer all sorts of not very heroic qualities are allowed to enter the lives of the gods?

Answer 7

Kirk

Question 8

Who says heroes and gods were of equal importance?

Answer 8

Ekroth

Question 9

What does Ekroth say the attraction of hero-cults was?

Answer 9

They were local and more unique than panhellenic gods

Question 10

Who said the Greeks had a tendency to appeal to a plurality of gods to recruit a team?

Answer 10

Parker

Question 11

Who says the personality of the gods is what allows us to pray to them?

Answer 11

Dowden

Question 12

Who does Burkert say were the authorities to whom the Greeks appealed?

Answer 12

Hesiod and Homer

Question 13

Who said the expectations men have of one another, of reciprocity, is carried over into their expectations of divinity?

Answer 13

Gould

Question 14

Who said Hesiod and Homer provided the visualisation and imagination of how men and gods interacted?

Answer 14

Aston

Question 15

Who said religion impregnated every civic activity?

Answer 15

Zaidman

Question 16

What did Haynes say about Euripides?

Answer 16

He has deliberately challenging views so isn’t a reliable representation of views at the time
However the issues raised may reflect prevalent issues in society

Question 17

Who says libations, prayers, sacrifices and other key institutions of Greek religion were the stuff of polis as well as personal religion?

Answer 17

Kindt

Question 18

Who says we have to admit our ignorance about initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries?

Answer 18

Garland

Question 19

What do Zaidman and Patel say the value of the Eleusinian intitiation process lay in to the Greeks?

Answer 19

The long period of preparation- a process of internal transformation

Question 20

What does Clinton say the purpose of the secrecy in the Eleusinian mystery cult was?

Answer 20

To help ensure the experience was extraordinary

Question 21

What do Zaidman and Pantel say made Epidauros important?

Answer 21

It enabled the sick to go on hoping

Question 22

Who said purification was atonement?

Answer 22

Burkert

Question 23

What does Burkert say about funerary customs?

Answer 23

They asserted traditions across generations and strengthened family solidarity.

Question 24

What does Kindt say about the different levels of religious practice?

Answer 24

There was no single belief or practice which qualified as personal or civic, individual or official

Question 25

What does Sourvino-Irnwood say about the link between society and religion?

Answer 25

All relationships and bonds including social and political ones, were expressed through cult

Question 26

Who said personal dedications received a public dimension by being put on display in a sanctuary?

Answer 26

Kindt

Question 27

What did Garland say about the involvement of women in religion?

Answer 27

May have offered psychological and social benefits to women.

Question 28

What did Garland say about miasma?

Answer 28

It was transmitted by contact so unless contained could pollute the entire community. Death was much more polluting than birth.

Question 29

What did Robertson say about the battles shown on the Parthenon?

Answer 29

They were no doubt meant to recall the defeat of the Persians

Question 30

What did Garland say about propylaeas?

Answer 30

They marked the division between secular and religious space, enhancing the drama upon entering holy ground

Question 31

Who said the Parthenon was not much more than a vanity box built to show off the chryselephantine statue of Athena?

Answer 31

Garland

Question 32

Who says the Parthenon seems to be designed to emphasise Athenian imperialism?

Answer 32

Robertson

Question 33

What does Garland credit Delphi's importance to?

Answer 33

Its distance from any major centre until the 360s BC meant it couldn't be manipulated by a powerful neighbour

Question 34

Who said the Parthenon is one of the most important buildings in human history?

Answer 34

Scott

Question 35

Who said Pheidias’ two chryselephantine statues were the culmination of all Greek religious art to the Greeks?

Answer 35

Burkert

Question 36

Who said the caryatids are reminiscent of the Panathenaic procession?

Answer 36

Harris and Zucker

Question 37

Who argues that religious ritual was a way of negating the constant threat of chaos beyond the worshipper's control?

Answer 37

Gould

Question 38

Who says leaders in rituals often obtained their authority through economic power?

Answer 38

Burkert

Question 39

Who says religious authority lay in the hands of the state and state alone?

Answer 39

Chanitois

Question 40

Who argues that the purpose of sacrifice was fundamentally for eating the meat?

Answer 40

Detienne

Question 41

Who argues that the importance of the meal in a sacrifice didn't detract from the religious element?

Answer 41

Garland

Question 42

Who said women's religious roles often mirrored their domestic duties?

Answer 42

McClure

Question 43

Who argues that it wouldn't make sense for women to have any more freedoms religiously than otherwise, so we should assume they were generally excluded?

Answer 43

Detienne

Question 44

Who says the rise in intellectual thinking in the 5th century seems to barely effect religious practice?

Answer 44

Burkert

Question 45

Who suggests it was possible that Euripides was an atheist due to his consistent negative portrayal of the gods?

Answer 45

Garland

Question 46

Who suggests that conservative Athenians were looking for someone to blame for new ideas and the loss of the empire so blamed Socrates?

Answer 46

Parker

Question 47

Who suggests that the whole of Socrates' trial was a facade to hide political motivations?

Answer 47

Vlastos

Question 48

Who argues that Socrates was seen as a religious deviant?

Answer 48

Taylor

Question 49

Who said Ancient Greek religious practice was based on time honoured observances?

Answer 49

Hemingway

Question 50

Who said Socrates' questioning of common concepts formed part of a wider trend?

Answer 50

Hermann

Question 51

Who said the Greeks did clearly believe in the gods?

Answer 51

Grigsby

Question 52

Who said it wasn’t illegal to not believe in the gods- examples of those who didn’t and weren’t punished- all examples of those tried for impiety had political element?

Answer 52

Grigsby

Question 53

Who said Disrespect of the gods was seen as a threat to maintaining good relations in the polis?

Answer 53

Grigsby

Question 54

Who says the vast majority of Greeks would not have taken myths literally- they removed practice from myths?

Answer 54

Grigsby

Question 55

Who said Socrates made enemies and was annoying but not illegal?

Answer 55

Grigsby