Rachel Bushkuhl
Athenian Religion Chapter 6
“THE SIXTH CENTURY: NEW
SPLENDOURS”
1.Athens becomes a polis, architecturally speaking. See page 67.
2. Pisistratus and sons- how responsible for this transformation were
they?
– Ruled on and off 561-510
– The beginnings of transformation were already present
-Bottom Line: “Sixth Century Expansion” is a better term than
“Pisistratean religious policy” when defining the age.
3. Architectural Evidence: “Athens becomes a city of marble and
limestone.”
-Solon’s Expression of Civic Piety (pg 69)
-Athena’s Presence on the Acropolis
– Ramp constructed
– Limestone Temple in Classical Form
– Inscribed Altar of Athena Nike 550 BCE
– Reliefs from buildings under charge of “Treasurers of Athena”
– Beginning of the presence of “votive religion” of the wealthy-
marble votives appear.
5. Other New Temples and Religious Sites:
-Agora: Temples of Apollo Patroos and Zeus, Altar of 12 Gods-
Navel of Attica
-Branch offices of country cults: Eleusinion in Agora and perhaps Artemis
Brauronia on the Acropolis
-Others Athenian sites: Temple of Dionysos, Altar of Eros, various small
shrines
-Other Sanctuaries: Temples at Rhamnus, Sunium, Brauron,(Icaria?)
-Athena Pallenis- unexcavated, find of a capital**
RELIGIOUS EFFECTS:
*The Temples had little religious effect other than association with
festivals, and most are classed as “urban improvements.”
1. Theory: Public religion was made more open to all during the 6th C
.
* Parker refutes this with the following evidence:
– “People’s gods” Demeter and Dionysus already honoured prior
to tyrants, as well as Athena, Zeus and Apollo- ambiguous distinctions
between aristocratic and popular gods.
– Aristocrats could not despise the people’s gods as the gods were better
born than the aristocrats.
2. Festival Calendar:
–Panathenaea– transformed into athletic festival of Panhellenic
appeal c. 560s
–City Dionysia– founded or refounded as forum for tragedy by
the last decade of 6th C.
-Other festivals reshaped/expanded.
3. Do these festivals make religion less exclusive?
-In Athletics, generally only the aristocrats wealthy enough to compete
benefit from the prizes offered.
-City Dionysia: Choruses made up of educated aristocrats, Dionysus already
had other popular festivals.
-Festivals given more popular setting but this is not a revolution against
the elite.
-Many popular festivals existed prior to these reforms which were not
at all exclusive nor aristocratic.
–Panegyris– “all-assembly” are ancient rites,
there must have always been pan-attic assemblies.
-typically rustic settings, food provided by participants, entertainment
semi-spontaneous.
*The Pisistratids, though contributing to the transformation of more
public rites and festivals, were not solely responsible for the change.
*By the 5th and 4th centuries, festivals were moved to cities, included
elaborate entertainment and meat was provided by the public.
*The Panegyreis were not invented or popularized but Urbanized.
*Greeks did not distinguish between the secular and religious in festivals.
* “Cultic Citizenship” of Greek women is lost in this transformation.
4. Herms
– First date to last * of 6th C., attributed to Hipparchus
– Served as halfway markers between Athens and other cities in Attica.
– Often inscribed with advertisement and moral maxim
– Herms became frequently dedicated in Agora in honor of Hermes.
– “Stele with a head”- surface for inscription, vehicle for
communication
– Laterals- “arms” for decoration, Phallus added
– Hermes gentrified
NINE SLIDES OF HERMS FROM CLASSICAL PERIOD
Chapter Six: New Splendors (Part Two) Carrie
Dobbs
I. Religious Phenomena of the Period
A.Pisistatus’ return from exile
1. possible explanation of Pisistratus sharing a chariot
with an “Athena-like” woman: the Athenians knew the girl was
an actress playing Athena and accepted it because she was representative
of Pisistratus’ as the man of honor for Athena’s city
2. Pisistratus chose to live in the acropolis, thus establishing
a claim to a very special relationship with the goddess Athena
B.Myths
* Pisistratus has been credited with using myths
as a form of symbolic manipulation
1.Heracles: pictured with Athena, dominated the iconography
of the age
2.Theseus: his myths rose in glory during the Pisistratid
period
3.Athena: coin-type picturing Athena and her owl is believed
to have first been made
A.Oracles and oracle-mongers
1.are first attested at the Pisistratid court
2.foreign religious center was Delos not Delphi· Delos
served as a showcase for the pious magnificence of Ionian tyrants
A.New and updated festivals
* The Panathenaea were all remodeled during the second
quarter of the sixth century
1.’Greater’ Panathenaea
· its establishment was the central element of the
reform
· held every four years
· athletic festival of Panhellenic appeal
· modeled after other Panhellenic festivals: the
Pythia, Isthmia, and Nemea
· prize given to the competitors was “deliberately
and ostentatiously” Athenian
· other than the games, it included tribal competitions,
a procession, sacrifice, and presentation of a robe
2.City Dionysia
· the other civic festival par excellence
· showcase for tragedy
· ritual elements included a phallic procession,
and possibly the revel (komos)
3. Thargelia
· the festival at which scapegoats
were expelled
· incorporation of dithyrambic choruses
· appears to have honored Apollo Pythios
4. Olympieia
· honored Zeus Olympios
· festival is not attested until the fourth century but
may have been founded by sxth century tyrants
5. Eleusinia, Herakleia, and Anakeia
· competitive festivals with little directly recorded history
A.Building activity at the country sanctuaries
* the sixth century was a crucial epoch in the history
of cults at Brauron and Eleusis, it was the first time
the cults were incorporated into the religious system of Athens itself
1.one theory is that the myths were reformed at the same
time their sanctuaries were being built or rebuilt
Conclusion: Though there is evidence of all of the religious aspects
I’ve mentioned, most conclusions about their involvement in the sixth century
are suppositions. There are multiple explanations and theories as to their
existence, establishment, and relevence.
Return to Main Page: CLST 4003H. Honors Colloquium
on Greek Religion. Spring, 2002.
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