Jenay Clark

Athenian Religion: A History

By: Robert Parker

Chapter 12-Beyond the Death of Alexander

1) Who is Alexander and why is he so important?

2) Why was his death significant?

Newly created tribes sprang up

Cults appeared

Statues were dedicated to "everyone"

"Heroes" were given religious honors

Leaders were given cults

People beginning to disassociate themselves from the gods, but associate themselves with real "heroes"

Went from democracy to oligarchy

Honors were given to Alexander's dead servant Hephaistion

Alexander's people were allowed to build temples, desecrate sacred buildings, have cults, and join the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Harpalus

Demetrius of Poliorcetes

Antigonos Monophthalmus

Alexanders heirs were granted honors like sainthood or were likened to the gods

They had no regards for sacred honor or religion. They did not have any order.

Cults

Cults were revived under the new rulers

Ruler Cults

Personality Cults

Tribes and Demes

Tribes and Demes began to have more and more prominence with the new leaders

They managed to survive without the guidance of Alexander, but they did however, take on new meanings.

Disappearance

In the later part of the second century tribes, shrines, cults, etc. began to lose their prominence

"Tribal decrees became rare after about 250, and one may wonder whether sacrifices that bought together all the members to feast in honour of the eponymous hero still occured" (265)

"Demes and Phratries and tribes vanish as active entities from the epigraphic record, so other bodies rise into prominence." (265)

Private Associations

Non-Citizen associations became more common. Underwent a boom in enrollment.

(Most worshipped foreign gods)

Orgeones

Society of citizen orgeones was founded

Hellenistic Athens still remained a city of festivals

Organization of these festivals however, did affect the relationship between the rich cults and those of the city cults.

Priesthoods

Mostly wealthy and prominent figures were granted the title of priesthood

Priests were required to help pay for tribal expenses

Supervised the mysteries

Cult of Demos and the Graces

Vanishing Symbols

Private sculpted dedications on the acropolis disappeared in the third century

Elaborate grave-monuments in Attica disappeared

Marble votives disappear

New cults arise and others disappear further

The new gods that began to appear in Athenian religion were now confined to non-Greek societies of worship.

Festivals such as Delian Apollo and Amphiaraus of Oropus now were outside of Athens control

Surviving festivals became more elaborate

Ptolemaea

Panatheanaea

Dionysia

Eleusinia

Hero-Cults

Eptitaphia

Theseia

Aianteia

These cults continued to survive

Hostilities between the Athenians and the philosophers of the regions were still contested

Aristotle

Stilpon the Megarian

After the death of the great Athenian ruler Athens as a great region began a rapid period of decline and resurrection. The times after Alexander were sometimes harsh if not cruel to people as suggested by the rule of Demetrius. Many ideas or themes that were popular during Alexander's reign were beginning to die out. Although some ideas and themes were "resurrected" they still didn't have the prominence that they had when Alexander was the ruler. The period after Alexander's death is essentially the decline of the gods and Athenian religion altogether.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE: CLST 4003H. Spring, 2002. Greek Religion