Greek Mysteries : The Archaeology of Ancient Greek Secret Cults

ISBN-13: 9780415248723 / Angielski / Twarda / 2002 / 288 str.

Michael B. Cosmopoulos; M. Cosmopoulos

Opis

Religion in ancient Greece had a strong public character and was, in many respects, a way of integrating the individual into the community. Within this public religion, there were special cults - mysteries. These were selected voluntarily by each person in the polis, allowing them to deal with the gods on an individual basis. Privacy was needed for the practice of the mysteries, and this was secured by an initiation ceremony that brought each person to a new spiritual level and a higher degree of awareness in relation to the gods.

Spis treści

List of illustrations, List of contributors, Preface, Note on abbreviations and transliteration, 1 Mycenaean religion at Eleusis: the architecture and stratigraphy of Megaron, 2 Festival and Mysteries: aspects of the Eleusinian Cult, 3 Stages of initiation in the Eleusinian and Samothracian Mysteries, 4 “In the Sanctuary of the Samothracian Gods”: myth, politics, and mystery cult at Ilion, 5 Evolutions of a mystery cult: the Theban Kabiroi, 6 Mystery cults in Arcadia, 7 Trophonius of Lebadea: mystery aspects of an oracular cult in Boeotia, 8 Landscapes of Dionysos and Elysian Fields, 9 Orphic Mysteries and Dionysiac ritual, 10 Lesser Mysteries – not less mysterious, 11 Concluding remarks, Index

O autorze

Michael B. Cosmopoulos