lesson 6- the god's different epithets Flashcards
(18 cards)
what is ‘Zeus Agoraios’?
zeus of the agora- Zeus has oversight over selling goods and buying goods, alongside trade. he ensured that the administration was just and that the deals were sealed by swearing oaths
where can you find an altar of Zeus Agoraios?
in the athenian agora
as well as belonging to 10 tribes in Athens, each athenian citizen belonged to a smaller group called what?
‘Phratry’ (meaning brotherhood)
what does ‘phratry’ mean?
brotherhood
who were the two patron gods for the ‘phratry’?
Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria
at what age were sons introduced to their father’s ‘phratry’?
within a year of their birth
at what age did sons make sacrifices to Zeus Phratrios?
16
what was Zeus Philios?
god of individual well being, household well being, prosperity and purification. he could also be consulted about marriage and childbirth
what was Zeus Herkeios?
god of fences and courtyards and was a protector of families
where was there an altar of Zeus Herkeios?
on the athenian acropolis
what were the 4 different epithets of zeus?
Zeus Agoraios
Zeus Phratrios
Zeus Philios
Zeus Herkeios
what were the 3 epithets of Athena?
Athena nike
Athena promachos
athena polias
what was athena nike?
goddess of victory
what was athena promachos?
the goddess of fights in the front line
what was athena polias?
protector of the city
what was the point of Epithets?
- epithets were used to specify which god was being worshipped and summoned and address them directly
- to identify whether the worship was local or panhellenic- there were different gods that were worshipped on a panhellenic or local level such as Zeus phratrios who was worshipped purely on a local level
by definition, what is an epithet?
an adjective that accompanies someone’s name, which denotes a quality or characteristic about the individual
how do we know that worshipping to the correct Diety was quite confusing for worshippers?
The epithets given to dieties proved to be confusing for mortals, as it was not clear which god they should pray to- for example should a pregnant woman consult Zeus Phillios or Artemis, the goddess of childbirth. We know that this was confusing as the oracular tablets at Dodona and Delphi prove to mainly be concerning which god the individual should pray to- of the 75 oracular consultations we have available at delphi, 56 are concerned with divinity religious matters, demonstrating how complex the religion was for ancient Greeks themselves.
