S. C. Humphreys
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199269235
- eISBN:
- 9780191710094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269235.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter gives a radically new account of the history of this festival. It is usually represented as a traditional ritual with origins in celebrations of new wine and an ancient All Souls’ Day. ...
More
This chapter gives a radically new account of the history of this festival. It is usually represented as a traditional ritual with origins in celebrations of new wine and an ancient All Souls’ Day. Here it is suggested that rites symbolizing renewal and new beginnings were constantly reinterpreted and modified as Athenian culture became more urban, attitudes to drunkenness changed, and Dionysus became more closely associated with the theatre. Because Athenians themselves saw the Anthesteria as ‘traditional’, the festival attracted learned speculation about culture history, the origins of drama, and the Flood as the beginning of human history. Some elements taken by modern scholars as part of age-old tradition may be late (return and expulsion of souls of the dead) or purely textual (the Aiora as a rite of swinging). The aim of this narrative is to startle readers into re-examining unquestioned assumptions.Less
This chapter gives a radically new account of the history of this festival. It is usually represented as a traditional ritual with origins in celebrations of new wine and an ancient All Souls’ Day. Here it is suggested that rites symbolizing renewal and new beginnings were constantly reinterpreted and modified as Athenian culture became more urban, attitudes to drunkenness changed, and Dionysus became more closely associated with the theatre. Because Athenians themselves saw the Anthesteria as ‘traditional’, the festival attracted learned speculation about culture history, the origins of drama, and the Flood as the beginning of human history. Some elements taken by modern scholars as part of age-old tradition may be late (return and expulsion of souls of the dead) or purely textual (the Aiora as a rite of swinging). The aim of this narrative is to startle readers into re-examining unquestioned assumptions.
Richard Seaford
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199233359
- eISBN:
- 9780191716348
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233359.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
In 6th century BC, the advanced Greek city-states were rapidly and pervasively monetized, largely through the introduction of coinage. It has been suggested that this monetization was a crucial ...
More
In 6th century BC, the advanced Greek city-states were rapidly and pervasively monetized, largely through the introduction of coinage. It has been suggested that this monetization was a crucial factor in the genesis and in the preoccupations both of Presocratic philosophy and of Athenian tragedy. This chapter relates the monetization of Athens first to the development of polis festivals under the tyrants and then to the form and content of tragedy, which came into being in a polis festival of Dionysos.Less
In 6th century BC, the advanced Greek city-states were rapidly and pervasively monetized, largely through the introduction of coinage. It has been suggested that this monetization was a crucial factor in the genesis and in the preoccupations both of Presocratic philosophy and of Athenian tragedy. This chapter relates the monetization of Athens first to the development of polis festivals under the tyrants and then to the form and content of tragedy, which came into being in a polis festival of Dionysos.
Lawrence M. Wills (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195151428
- eISBN:
- 9780199870516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151429.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
An introduction and translation of Third Maccabees. It was not canonized as part of the Hebrew Bible or the Catholic Old Testament Apocrypha, but was contained in the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament. ...
More
An introduction and translation of Third Maccabees. It was not canonized as part of the Hebrew Bible or the Catholic Old Testament Apocrypha, but was contained in the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament. This satire of the Dionysos cult recounts an incidence of persecution of the Jews in Egypt, but pushes the limits of history; their escape comes through a series of miracles. It includes the motifs of prayer and the competition of ethnic groups.Less
An introduction and translation of Third Maccabees. It was not canonized as part of the Hebrew Bible or the Catholic Old Testament Apocrypha, but was contained in the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament. This satire of the Dionysos cult recounts an incidence of persecution of the Jews in Egypt, but pushes the limits of history; their escape comes through a series of miracles. It includes the motifs of prayer and the competition of ethnic groups.
I. A. Ruffell
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199587216
- eISBN:
- 9780191731297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587216.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter develops the study of comic self-reference by looking at direct and indirect address and manipulation of the audience. Arguing that the audience's role is a construct of the ...
More
This chapter develops the study of comic self-reference by looking at direct and indirect address and manipulation of the audience. Arguing that the audience's role is a construct of the fiction, audience address and related, but less explicit, devices consolidate the audience as the male citizen body of Athens and construct a coherent audience position with which audience members can identify. Such explicit and implicit intervention extends the social and inclusive dimension of laughter. Identification of individuals and groups within the audience is limited and further consolidates group identity, while Dionysiac and festive dimensions of the impossible worlds of comedy, such as Akharnians, Frogs, and Eupolis' Poleis also serve to intensify the political atmosphere of the plays.Less
This chapter develops the study of comic self-reference by looking at direct and indirect address and manipulation of the audience. Arguing that the audience's role is a construct of the fiction, audience address and related, but less explicit, devices consolidate the audience as the male citizen body of Athens and construct a coherent audience position with which audience members can identify. Such explicit and implicit intervention extends the social and inclusive dimension of laughter. Identification of individuals and groups within the audience is limited and further consolidates group identity, while Dionysiac and festive dimensions of the impossible worlds of comedy, such as Akharnians, Frogs, and Eupolis' Poleis also serve to intensify the political atmosphere of the plays.
Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637980
- eISBN:
- 9780748670758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637980.003.0017
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
The richest body of evidence for perceptions of the gods in Apulia consists of local figure decorated pottery made between about 430 and 300 BC. Though Greek in style, the vast majority of the pots ...
More
The richest body of evidence for perceptions of the gods in Apulia consists of local figure decorated pottery made between about 430 and 300 BC. Though Greek in style, the vast majority of the pots on which the images appear have been found in Italic (non-Greek) tombs rather than in the tomb of Taranto, the one Greek city in Apulia. Most of the gods in these vase-paintings appear as peripheral figures, almost like spectators in a gallery. The one exception is Dionysos who is central to the scenes in which he appears. He is always shown as a beardless youth, often naked, a form that replaces the traditional bearded Dionysos on Athenian vases at about the same time it appears in Apulia. In this new form he is not the theatre god nor is he the god of wine; rather, he is a champion of the dead and a guarantor of personal afterlife.Less
The richest body of evidence for perceptions of the gods in Apulia consists of local figure decorated pottery made between about 430 and 300 BC. Though Greek in style, the vast majority of the pots on which the images appear have been found in Italic (non-Greek) tombs rather than in the tomb of Taranto, the one Greek city in Apulia. Most of the gods in these vase-paintings appear as peripheral figures, almost like spectators in a gallery. The one exception is Dionysos who is central to the scenes in which he appears. He is always shown as a beardless youth, often naked, a form that replaces the traditional bearded Dionysos on Athenian vases at about the same time it appears in Apulia. In this new form he is not the theatre god nor is he the god of wine; rather, he is a champion of the dead and a guarantor of personal afterlife.
Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637980
- eISBN:
- 9780748670758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637980.003.0019
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
If we look, in the ‘ideal novel’, at the frequency of mention of significant named divinities (such as Aphrodite, Dionysos, Artemis, Zeus, Isis), as well as of theos and theoi in general, we find ...
More
If we look, in the ‘ideal novel’, at the frequency of mention of significant named divinities (such as Aphrodite, Dionysos, Artemis, Zeus, Isis), as well as of theos and theoi in general, we find that novels are characteristically interested in only one or two of them – and for specific reasons. At an extreme, Heliodorus is not really interested in any god specifically. Yet there is a real sense of piety supported by the novel, even in the unlikely hands of Achilles Tatius, and the reader is, in some novels at least, meant to raise questions about the ‘hand of god’ in the action. The acid test is the efficacy of prayer in the text, where the divinity can sometimes respond in delayed and mysterious ways. The novel is a useful document for getting inside ancient piety.Less
If we look, in the ‘ideal novel’, at the frequency of mention of significant named divinities (such as Aphrodite, Dionysos, Artemis, Zeus, Isis), as well as of theos and theoi in general, we find that novels are characteristically interested in only one or two of them – and for specific reasons. At an extreme, Heliodorus is not really interested in any god specifically. Yet there is a real sense of piety supported by the novel, even in the unlikely hands of Achilles Tatius, and the reader is, in some novels at least, meant to raise questions about the ‘hand of god’ in the action. The acid test is the efficacy of prayer in the text, where the divinity can sometimes respond in delayed and mysterious ways. The novel is a useful document for getting inside ancient piety.
Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637980
- eISBN:
- 9780748670758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637980.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
The Greeks were polytheists who believed in a multitude of gods. In the modern discussion of Greek religion the gods take second place to ritual, and the study of individual gods is privileged over ...
More
The Greeks were polytheists who believed in a multitude of gods. In the modern discussion of Greek religion the gods take second place to ritual, and the study of individual gods is privileged over attempts to define their general characteristics qua gods. While studies of the functions and personalities of gods like Apollo, Demeter, Dionysos or Herakles abound, no comprehensive treatment of the generic properties of the Greek gods exists. The question “What is Greek god?” is considered too ‘theological’ and therefore shunned. This chapter examines four divine qualities that are shared by all the Greek gods—their immortality, anthropomorphism, foreknowledge, and finally their power.Less
The Greeks were polytheists who believed in a multitude of gods. In the modern discussion of Greek religion the gods take second place to ritual, and the study of individual gods is privileged over attempts to define their general characteristics qua gods. While studies of the functions and personalities of gods like Apollo, Demeter, Dionysos or Herakles abound, no comprehensive treatment of the generic properties of the Greek gods exists. The question “What is Greek god?” is considered too ‘theological’ and therefore shunned. This chapter examines four divine qualities that are shared by all the Greek gods—their immortality, anthropomorphism, foreknowledge, and finally their power.
Jan N. Bremmer and Andrew Erskine
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637980
- eISBN:
- 9780748670758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637980.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
Richard Buxton discuss five examples of narratives which relate in some way to divine metamorphosis, whether as animals or humans, for the purpose of presenting themselves to mortals. The narratives ...
More
Richard Buxton discuss five examples of narratives which relate in some way to divine metamorphosis, whether as animals or humans, for the purpose of presenting themselves to mortals. The narratives studied are the following: Athena’s encounter with Telemachos in the Odyssey, Apollo in the Hymn to Apollo, Thetis’ relationship with Achilles, Dionysos in the Bacchae and Zeus’ serial metamorphoses in pursuit of his erotic ambitions. After drawing conclusions about each of these metamorphoses and epiphanies, Buxton concludes by considering what light this material might shed on the old problem of how far Greek religion was essentially anthropomorphic.Less
Richard Buxton discuss five examples of narratives which relate in some way to divine metamorphosis, whether as animals or humans, for the purpose of presenting themselves to mortals. The narratives studied are the following: Athena’s encounter with Telemachos in the Odyssey, Apollo in the Hymn to Apollo, Thetis’ relationship with Achilles, Dionysos in the Bacchae and Zeus’ serial metamorphoses in pursuit of his erotic ambitions. After drawing conclusions about each of these metamorphoses and epiphanies, Buxton concludes by considering what light this material might shed on the old problem of how far Greek religion was essentially anthropomorphic.
Luciano Canfora and Julian Stringer (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748619368
- eISBN:
- 9780748670734
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748619368.003.0023
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
When Caesar reached Alexandria on 2 October 48 bc, he certainly did not expect to be greeted by the embalmed head of Pompey, but even less did he expect to be bogged down for all of nine months in a ...
More
When Caesar reached Alexandria on 2 October 48 bc, he certainly did not expect to be greeted by the embalmed head of Pompey, but even less did he expect to be bogged down for all of nine months in a local conflict that almost cost him his life, until 28 June 47 bc, when he finally sailed from Alexandria for Syria. Suetonius writes that in that lengthy period Caesar found himself fighting a war in truth of great difficulty, convenient neither in time or place, but carried on during the winter season, within the walls of a well-provisioned and crafty foeman, while Caesar himself was without supplies of any kind and ill-prepared. The background to the Egyptian dynastic crisis in which Caesar became entangled in the middle of the civil war was the operation managed by Pompey, but also supported by Caesar, which, thanks to the ‘protection’ of Aulus Gabinius, had restored Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos, popularly known as Auletes, on the throne in 55 bc.Less
When Caesar reached Alexandria on 2 October 48 bc, he certainly did not expect to be greeted by the embalmed head of Pompey, but even less did he expect to be bogged down for all of nine months in a local conflict that almost cost him his life, until 28 June 47 bc, when he finally sailed from Alexandria for Syria. Suetonius writes that in that lengthy period Caesar found himself fighting a war in truth of great difficulty, convenient neither in time or place, but carried on during the winter season, within the walls of a well-provisioned and crafty foeman, while Caesar himself was without supplies of any kind and ill-prepared. The background to the Egyptian dynastic crisis in which Caesar became entangled in the middle of the civil war was the operation managed by Pompey, but also supported by Caesar, which, thanks to the ‘protection’ of Aulus Gabinius, had restored Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos, popularly known as Auletes, on the throne in 55 bc.
Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199592074
- eISBN:
- 9780191595592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592074.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter argues that there was no traditional gentilicial connection between the genos Bakchiadai and the City Dionysia, and more generally the cult of Dionysos Eleuthereus. We cannot hope to ...
More
This chapter argues that there was no traditional gentilicial connection between the genos Bakchiadai and the City Dionysia, and more generally the cult of Dionysos Eleuthereus. We cannot hope to know, without new evidence, whether the Bakchiadai were an old genos or, more likely, a new one, created in the context of the genē revival in the 2nd century bc. But there is a very strong case against the hypothesis that this genos had an ancestral association with the cult of Dionysos Eleuthereus and the City Dionysia comparable to the relationship between other genē and other cults. Nor did the genos of the Euneidai have a significant association with the City Dionysia; if the Euneidai always performed certain ritual duties such as kithara playing or providing a herald for the processions they would also have performed those at the City Dionysia, but this would not constitute a specific gentilicial connection with this particular festival and cult. There are also good reasons for thinking that no genos had a special connection with the City Dionysia and that the priesthood of Dionysos Eleuthereus was non-gentilicial and may have been the first major priesthood to have been open to all Athenians.Less
This chapter argues that there was no traditional gentilicial connection between the genos Bakchiadai and the City Dionysia, and more generally the cult of Dionysos Eleuthereus. We cannot hope to know, without new evidence, whether the Bakchiadai were an old genos or, more likely, a new one, created in the context of the genē revival in the 2nd century bc. But there is a very strong case against the hypothesis that this genos had an ancestral association with the cult of Dionysos Eleuthereus and the City Dionysia comparable to the relationship between other genē and other cults. Nor did the genos of the Euneidai have a significant association with the City Dionysia; if the Euneidai always performed certain ritual duties such as kithara playing or providing a herald for the processions they would also have performed those at the City Dionysia, but this would not constitute a specific gentilicial connection with this particular festival and cult. There are also good reasons for thinking that no genos had a special connection with the City Dionysia and that the priesthood of Dionysos Eleuthereus was non-gentilicial and may have been the first major priesthood to have been open to all Athenians.
Ory Amitay
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520266360
- eISBN:
- 9780520948174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520266360.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
In late spring or early summer of 327, Alexander the Great once more crossed the Hindu Kush—his Caucasus—and passed into India. He was congratulated by a number of kinglets from the neighborhood as ...
More
In late spring or early summer of 327, Alexander the Great once more crossed the Hindu Kush—his Caucasus—and passed into India. He was congratulated by a number of kinglets from the neighborhood as the third son of Zeus, after Dionysos and Herakles. Herakles freed Prometheus from his shackles somewhere on the Hindu Kush, but for Alexander that was a recent discovery. Dionysos had visited Baktria, as everyone knew from Euripides, but the playwright never suggested that the God had also visited India. Still in the northernmost parts of India, Alexander came to the rock Aornos. He also reached the land of the Siboi (or Sibai), at the confluence of the Hydaspes and the Akesines. Early in 325, two years after the invasion of India, Alexander celebrated the successful conclusion to the campaign against the Malloi and Oxydrakai. The “battle of the Gods” marks the last appearance of Herakles in the historical accounts of Alexander's campaign.Less
In late spring or early summer of 327, Alexander the Great once more crossed the Hindu Kush—his Caucasus—and passed into India. He was congratulated by a number of kinglets from the neighborhood as the third son of Zeus, after Dionysos and Herakles. Herakles freed Prometheus from his shackles somewhere on the Hindu Kush, but for Alexander that was a recent discovery. Dionysos had visited Baktria, as everyone knew from Euripides, but the playwright never suggested that the God had also visited India. Still in the northernmost parts of India, Alexander came to the rock Aornos. He also reached the land of the Siboi (or Sibai), at the confluence of the Hydaspes and the Akesines. Early in 325, two years after the invasion of India, Alexander celebrated the successful conclusion to the campaign against the Malloi and Oxydrakai. The “battle of the Gods” marks the last appearance of Herakles in the historical accounts of Alexander's campaign.
Rolf Strootman
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748691265
- eISBN:
- 9781474400800
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748691265.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Chapter 11 studies rituals of entry. The main question that is addressed, is how ritual was used to accommodate imperial monarchy within the values and practices of the city state. It is argued that ...
More
Chapter 11 studies rituals of entry. The main question that is addressed, is how ritual was used to accommodate imperial monarchy within the values and practices of the city state. It is argued that Hellenistic rituals of entry were sometimes modelled on religious rites of divine epiphany, at least in Greek poleis. In all cities, independent of their ethno-cultural identity, Hellenistic kings performed a sacrifice, usually in the city’s principal sanctuary. By participating in local, civic cults upon entering cities, the king became a citizen. And because within that local cult almost the king personally performed the crucial act of offering the sacrificial animal on the altar, he became the most highly honoured citizen. So although especially in the Seleukid Empire rulers gave the impression to respect local ‘traditions’, the pattern of consistent patronage and manipulation of local religious cults probably could actually enhance the integration of cities and civic elites into the empire.Less
Chapter 11 studies rituals of entry. The main question that is addressed, is how ritual was used to accommodate imperial monarchy within the values and practices of the city state. It is argued that Hellenistic rituals of entry were sometimes modelled on religious rites of divine epiphany, at least in Greek poleis. In all cities, independent of their ethno-cultural identity, Hellenistic kings performed a sacrifice, usually in the city’s principal sanctuary. By participating in local, civic cults upon entering cities, the king became a citizen. And because within that local cult almost the king personally performed the crucial act of offering the sacrificial animal on the altar, he became the most highly honoured citizen. So although especially in the Seleukid Empire rulers gave the impression to respect local ‘traditions’, the pattern of consistent patronage and manipulation of local religious cults probably could actually enhance the integration of cities and civic elites into the empire.
Rolf Strootman
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780748691265
- eISBN:
- 9781474400800
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748691265.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
Chapter 12 takes a closer look at royal processions that took place at the imperial centre. The focus is on the symbolic communication of imperial ideology through ritual enactment and iconography. ...
More
Chapter 12 takes a closer look at royal processions that took place at the imperial centre. The focus is on the symbolic communication of imperial ideology through ritual enactment and iconography. In capital cities, new monarchical-religious festivals were introduced to create extra opportunities to attract representatives of subject polities to the centre, and to create a unifying image of kingship. It will be argued that the pivotal messages conveyed by the ritual performances enacted during these festivals pertained to the king’s heroic, victorious charisma and the ideal of a peaceful and prosperous world empire, and that these two aspects were two sides of the same coin. Hence the central role of the image of Dionysos as victorious warrior and bringer of good fortune in especially Ptolemaic royal ritual. Attention will also be given to the function of ritual performance as a means to create social cohesion among the participants, viz., the philoi.Less
Chapter 12 takes a closer look at royal processions that took place at the imperial centre. The focus is on the symbolic communication of imperial ideology through ritual enactment and iconography. In capital cities, new monarchical-religious festivals were introduced to create extra opportunities to attract representatives of subject polities to the centre, and to create a unifying image of kingship. It will be argued that the pivotal messages conveyed by the ritual performances enacted during these festivals pertained to the king’s heroic, victorious charisma and the ideal of a peaceful and prosperous world empire, and that these two aspects were two sides of the same coin. Hence the central role of the image of Dionysos as victorious warrior and bringer of good fortune in especially Ptolemaic royal ritual. Attention will also be given to the function of ritual performance as a means to create social cohesion among the participants, viz., the philoi.
Robert B. Pippin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226259659
- eISBN:
- 9780226259796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226259796.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
References to Nietzsche in Strauss’s work take two inter-connected forms. First, Strauss praises Nietzsche as a diagnostician. Nietzsche, he believes, has understood the crisis of our times, ...
More
References to Nietzsche in Strauss’s work take two inter-connected forms. First, Strauss praises Nietzsche as a diagnostician. Nietzsche, he believes, has understood the crisis of our times, nihilism. Secondly, Strauss admires Nietzsche’s understanding of the origins of this crisis in the exclusive authority granted in modernity to the theoretical attitude in modern natural science and modern philosophy. These enterprises cultivate a value neutral, objective perspective. This prevents them from understanding “life,” which is unintelligible (as lived) without “commitment.” If life is to be possible, Nietzsche is thus left with the options of esotericism about theoretical results (Plato’s option), or the denial of the possibility of theory, understanding it as a product of life, or fate. The task of this chapter is to explore whether the options suggested by Strauss are Nietzsche’s options, but more importantly, whether Strauss actually believes that they are. The thesis is that the answer to both of these questions is No.Less
References to Nietzsche in Strauss’s work take two inter-connected forms. First, Strauss praises Nietzsche as a diagnostician. Nietzsche, he believes, has understood the crisis of our times, nihilism. Secondly, Strauss admires Nietzsche’s understanding of the origins of this crisis in the exclusive authority granted in modernity to the theoretical attitude in modern natural science and modern philosophy. These enterprises cultivate a value neutral, objective perspective. This prevents them from understanding “life,” which is unintelligible (as lived) without “commitment.” If life is to be possible, Nietzsche is thus left with the options of esotericism about theoretical results (Plato’s option), or the denial of the possibility of theory, understanding it as a product of life, or fate. The task of this chapter is to explore whether the options suggested by Strauss are Nietzsche’s options, but more importantly, whether Strauss actually believes that they are. The thesis is that the answer to both of these questions is No.
Laurence Lampert
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226039480
- eISBN:
- 9780226039510
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226039510.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter treats Strauss’s late essay “Note on the Plan of Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil.” It emphasizes Strauss’s great achievement of showing how philosophy and religion belong together in ...
More
This chapter treats Strauss’s late essay “Note on the Plan of Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil.” It emphasizes Strauss’s great achievement of showing how philosophy and religion belong together in Nietzsche’s work, or how Nietzsche as philosopher gained the fundamental insight into beings as such, his “doctrine of will to power,” and then moved necessarily to the theological political program that was true to that insight, the teaching of eternal return or what Strauss called the new “ideal belonging to the religion of the future.” Because Strauss refused to set out Nietzsche’s religion of the future, the chapter shows why Nietzsche took both Dionysos and Ariadne with the greatest seriousness. The chapter ends showing why Nietzsche thought a new post-Christian religion was necessary and how that new religion could be ecological or true to the earth.Less
This chapter treats Strauss’s late essay “Note on the Plan of Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil.” It emphasizes Strauss’s great achievement of showing how philosophy and religion belong together in Nietzsche’s work, or how Nietzsche as philosopher gained the fundamental insight into beings as such, his “doctrine of will to power,” and then moved necessarily to the theological political program that was true to that insight, the teaching of eternal return or what Strauss called the new “ideal belonging to the religion of the future.” Because Strauss refused to set out Nietzsche’s religion of the future, the chapter shows why Nietzsche took both Dionysos and Ariadne with the greatest seriousness. The chapter ends showing why Nietzsche thought a new post-Christian religion was necessary and how that new religion could be ecological or true to the earth.
Ronald Dorris
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617036828
- eISBN:
- 9781617036835
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617036828.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, African-American Literature
This chapter focuses on Percival Everett’s novel Frenzy, a postmodern revision of the story of the god of wine, madness, fertility, and ecstasy, Dionysos. The narrator of the novel informs the reader ...
More
This chapter focuses on Percival Everett’s novel Frenzy, a postmodern revision of the story of the god of wine, madness, fertility, and ecstasy, Dionysos. The narrator of the novel informs the reader that in the midst of the “frenzied Bakkhanal,” the story of Dionysos is told through Vlepo, “an unfrenzied observer” without form that manifests only at the command of Dionysos. Vlepo without form serves as chronicler of bacchic unfolding. As a governing definition for this analysis, that which is bacchic is connoted as the attempt on the part of a people in an uprooted environment to balance emotion and intellect, which encompasses growth patterns bound in the rhythms of organic life and all its integral variations.Less
This chapter focuses on Percival Everett’s novel Frenzy, a postmodern revision of the story of the god of wine, madness, fertility, and ecstasy, Dionysos. The narrator of the novel informs the reader that in the midst of the “frenzied Bakkhanal,” the story of Dionysos is told through Vlepo, “an unfrenzied observer” without form that manifests only at the command of Dionysos. Vlepo without form serves as chronicler of bacchic unfolding. As a governing definition for this analysis, that which is bacchic is connoted as the attempt on the part of a people in an uprooted environment to balance emotion and intellect, which encompasses growth patterns bound in the rhythms of organic life and all its integral variations.
Danielle L. Kellogg
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199645794
- eISBN:
- 9780191755828
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199645794.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This chapter discusses the processes of identity formation and stereotyping on the sub-polis level in Athens. Recent research into the processes of identity formation in the ancient world has focused ...
More
This chapter discusses the processes of identity formation and stereotyping on the sub-polis level in Athens. Recent research into the processes of identity formation in the ancient world has focused mainly upon how such processes functioned between and within very large ethnic or social groups, but the same practices were concurrently at work amongst much smaller groups. Through a close reading of the ancient literary sources, it becomes clear that the Acharnians were distinguished from inhabitants of other demes and stereotyped as possessing particular characteristics. Alongside Aristophanes’ Acharnians, other sources from the classical period, such as Thucydides and Pindar, support the picture presented in Old Comedy of the deme’s inhabitants. Moreover, an examination of the post-classical sources reveals a wholesale shift in later periods as to how the Acharnians were regarded, a response to the changing demographics of rural Attica and the different scope of geopolitics in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods.Less
This chapter discusses the processes of identity formation and stereotyping on the sub-polis level in Athens. Recent research into the processes of identity formation in the ancient world has focused mainly upon how such processes functioned between and within very large ethnic or social groups, but the same practices were concurrently at work amongst much smaller groups. Through a close reading of the ancient literary sources, it becomes clear that the Acharnians were distinguished from inhabitants of other demes and stereotyped as possessing particular characteristics. Alongside Aristophanes’ Acharnians, other sources from the classical period, such as Thucydides and Pindar, support the picture presented in Old Comedy of the deme’s inhabitants. Moreover, an examination of the post-classical sources reveals a wholesale shift in later periods as to how the Acharnians were regarded, a response to the changing demographics of rural Attica and the different scope of geopolitics in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods.
Aneurin Ellis-Evans
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198831983
- eISBN:
- 9780191869808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198831983.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter considers what kind of collective identity was fostered by the insular location of the Lesbian cities. It is usually assumed that the cities of Lesbos were particularly inclined to ...
More
This chapter considers what kind of collective identity was fostered by the insular location of the Lesbian cities. It is usually assumed that the cities of Lesbos were particularly inclined to cooperate with one another because of their insular geography, and as a result the treaty refounding the Lesbian koinon from c.200 BC should be interpreted as evidence that the island’s cities were headed for political unification. Here it is instead argued that the cities of Lesbos kept the level of cooperation between themselves at a bare minimum and usually viewed Lesbian identity as something to compete over and claim exclusive ownership of rather than as a rationale for political cooperation. A reassessment of the treaty of the refounded koinon suggests that it attests a much more limited level of intra-island cooperation than has previously been assumed. Insofar as this is nevertheless a greater level of cooperation than we see in earlier and later periods, this reflects the dangerous and uncertain political context which engulfed many Greek cities in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of Ptolemaic hegemony in the Aegean in the 200s BC.Less
This chapter considers what kind of collective identity was fostered by the insular location of the Lesbian cities. It is usually assumed that the cities of Lesbos were particularly inclined to cooperate with one another because of their insular geography, and as a result the treaty refounding the Lesbian koinon from c.200 BC should be interpreted as evidence that the island’s cities were headed for political unification. Here it is instead argued that the cities of Lesbos kept the level of cooperation between themselves at a bare minimum and usually viewed Lesbian identity as something to compete over and claim exclusive ownership of rather than as a rationale for political cooperation. A reassessment of the treaty of the refounded koinon suggests that it attests a much more limited level of intra-island cooperation than has previously been assumed. Insofar as this is nevertheless a greater level of cooperation than we see in earlier and later periods, this reflects the dangerous and uncertain political context which engulfed many Greek cities in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of Ptolemaic hegemony in the Aegean in the 200s BC.
Hallie M. Franks
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190863166
- eISBN:
- 9780190863197
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190863166.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
The first chapter reviews current understandings of the symposium, the andron, and pebble mosaics, including the possible origins and development of each, the iconographic themes introduced by the ...
More
The first chapter reviews current understandings of the symposium, the andron, and pebble mosaics, including the possible origins and development of each, the iconographic themes introduced by the mosaics, and relevant previous scholarship. Emphasis is placed on the circulation of a single wine cup around the andron. Moreover, the chapter describes the symposium as a commensal gathering of equals that involved competition, conversation, entertainment, and drinking. It then situates this event in the andron, characterizing that setting, its development, and the archaeological evidence pointing to the specialized function of this room. The chapter also provides an overview of the literature on pebble mosaic floors.Less
The first chapter reviews current understandings of the symposium, the andron, and pebble mosaics, including the possible origins and development of each, the iconographic themes introduced by the mosaics, and relevant previous scholarship. Emphasis is placed on the circulation of a single wine cup around the andron. Moreover, the chapter describes the symposium as a commensal gathering of equals that involved competition, conversation, entertainment, and drinking. It then situates this event in the andron, characterizing that setting, its development, and the archaeological evidence pointing to the specialized function of this room. The chapter also provides an overview of the literature on pebble mosaic floors.
Hallie M. Franks
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190863166
- eISBN:
- 9780190863197
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190863166.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, History of Art: pre-history, BCE to 500CE, ancient and classical, Byzantine
Dionysos, the god of wine, often shown on vases alongside his retinue of revelers, is a natural subject for the decoration of the room in which the symposium is held. Greek pebble mosaics, however, ...
More
Dionysos, the god of wine, often shown on vases alongside his retinue of revelers, is a natural subject for the decoration of the room in which the symposium is held. Greek pebble mosaics, however, place particular emphasis on the god’s identity as a traveler. Although Dionysos is Greek, he was raised on distant Mt. Nysa, from which he returned in a triumphal procession that crossed the known world. In andron mosaics, he is shown in the process of this return, mounted in a chariot drawn by panthers (Olynthos), or riding an exotic large cat (Pella, Eretria). This chapter posits that such mosaics present Dionysos as a theoros—a traveler whose exposure to the unfamiliar brings the new knowledge of viniculture to his homeland. In this way, Dionysos provides a model for the metaphorical journey of intellectual transformation that wine-drinking and conversation ideally produce in the event’s participants.Less
Dionysos, the god of wine, often shown on vases alongside his retinue of revelers, is a natural subject for the decoration of the room in which the symposium is held. Greek pebble mosaics, however, place particular emphasis on the god’s identity as a traveler. Although Dionysos is Greek, he was raised on distant Mt. Nysa, from which he returned in a triumphal procession that crossed the known world. In andron mosaics, he is shown in the process of this return, mounted in a chariot drawn by panthers (Olynthos), or riding an exotic large cat (Pella, Eretria). This chapter posits that such mosaics present Dionysos as a theoros—a traveler whose exposure to the unfamiliar brings the new knowledge of viniculture to his homeland. In this way, Dionysos provides a model for the metaphorical journey of intellectual transformation that wine-drinking and conversation ideally produce in the event’s participants.
