Religion in Hellenistic Athens

by Mikalson, Jon D.

• ISBN13: 9780520210233
• ISBN10: 0520210239
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Until now, there has been no comprehensive study of religion in Athens from the end of the classical period to the time of Rome's domination of the city. Jon D. Mikalson provides a chronological approach to religion in Hellenistic Athens, disproving the widely held belief that Hellenistic religion during this period represented a decline from the classical era. Drawing from epigraphical, historical, literary, and archaeological sources, Mikalson traces the religious cults and beliefs of Athenians from the battle of Chaeroneia in 338 B.C. to the devastation of Athens by Sulla in 86 B.C., demonstrating that traditional religion played a central and vital role in Athenian private, social, and political life. Mikalson describes the private and public religious practices of Athenians during this period, emphasizing the role these practices played in the life of the citizens and providing a careful scruntiny of individual cults. He concludes his study by using his findings from Athens to call into question several commonly held assumptions about the general development of religion in Hellenistic Greece.

Table of Contents

ABBREVIATIONS	xi
INTRODUCTION	1	(10)
1 The Age of Lycourgos	11	(35)
2 The Decade of Demetrios of Phaleron	46	(29)
3 Twenty Years of the Divine Demetrios Poliorcetes	75	(30)
4 The Calm between the Storms	105	(32)
5 Again Domination, Again Independence	137	(31)
6 Demos and the Charites	168	(40)
7 Athens and Delos	208	(34)
8 Indian Summer	242	(46)
CONCLUSION	288	(37)
APPENDIX: CROSS-REFERENCES FOR EPIGRAPHICAL TEXTS	325	(4)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	329	(16)
GENERAL INDEX	345	(12)
INDEX OF EPIGRAPHICAL TEXTS CITED	357