In this class we continue to examine the relationship between storytelling and human life in the Archaic age by paying special attention to Greek ‘Religion’, separated into parts that include ritual, sacrifice, and divination. We will move between theories of ritual and religion and textual and archaeological evidence for actual practices. In closing, we will consider the extreme case of human omens: stories of and ritual response to intersex births and experiences in the Ancient Mediterranean.
Ancient Authors Discussed
Homer, Archaic Age
Plato, Classical Period
Aristotle, Classical Period
Ovid, Roman Imperial Period
Diodorus Siculus, Hellenistic/Roman Republican Period
Pausanias, Roman Imperial Period
Some Suggested Course Texts
Iliad, book 1
Pausanias, 2.1-2.30
A terrible story of an intersex child as an Omen
Thury’s Notes on Victor Turner
Burkert, Greek Religion: “Animal Sacrifice”
Links to Blogposts
Diodorus Siculus on Superstition and Intersex Births
A terrible story of an intersex child as an Omen
A collection of intersex tales from Ancient Greece and Rome
Modern Authors Mentioned
Other Articles for Additional Reading
Hilary Ilkay’s essay on “Ovid’s Mythological Hermaphrodite”
Cassie Garrison’s Essay on “Gender and Sexuality in Antiquity: The Trial and Consciousness of Callon”
Das, Veena. “Language of Sacrifice.” Man, New Series, 18, no. 3 (1983): 445-62. doi:10.2307/2801591.
Caroline Humphrey and James Laidlaw. “Sacrifice and Ritualization.”
Walter Burkert. Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. 1983
For a starter bibliography on Sacrifice in the Ancient Mediterranean, see this BMCR Review
Alexiou, Margaret. “Reappropriating Greek Sacrifice: homo necans or άνθρωπος θυσιάζων?” Journal of Modern Greek Studies, vol. 8 no. 1, 1990, pp. 97-123. Project MUSE
Student Links
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Images
Classical Mythology 