Topic 4 - Religion/Archaeology

Question 1

what must you have for Greek religion and what do you not really need?

Answer 1

You don’t need a temple for Greek religion, but you must have an alter. it can be enormous, a small slab on the ground or a natural stone but it must be marked away from the surroundings making it sacred

Question 2

what could be offered?

Answer 2

Animals are mainly used as sacrifice but inanimate objects such as cake, textiles, weapons, jewelry etc. are also offered.the act of offering is more important than the offering itself.

Question 3

why were animals mainly sacrificed?

Answer 3

Animals were sacrificed because they are below men and gods on the social hierarchy and are the tools through which men communicate with the gods.

Question 4

did the Greeks just like killing animals?

Answer 4

Animals weren’t sacrificed because the Greeks like killing them, many had a vegetarian diet but they used it as the best sacrifice to the gods - when the animals were sacrificed, the meat was cooked and distributed to the crowd.

Question 5

what was the primary function of the temple?

Answer 5

the primary function of the temple was to house cult statues of whoever they were praying/sacrificing to. statues could be made out of anything from wood to ivory and gold

Question 6

could you pray in the temple?

Answer 6

the temple is the house of the god but not for praying in

Question 7

what 2 types of sacrifice can be identified?

Answer 7

in Greek religion there are 2 types of sacrifice identified by modern scholars, Olympian sacrifice to deities on Olympus, and chthonic sacrifice to deities on earth

Question 8

what happens after the animal is sacrificed?

Answer 8

after sacrifice, the animal is butchered and cooked over the alter and the fat and bones dripping over the alter creating smoke which go to the gods.

Question 9

what evidence is there of human sacrifice?

Answer 9

in Crete during the Bronze Age, there is evidence of human sacrifice on 2 occasions, child remains appear to have been butchered and a skeleton left on an alter appears to have been sacrificed .

Question 10

where does everything we know about Greek religion come from?

Answer 10

Everything we know about Greek religion comes from archaeology or written sources such as inscriptions ans is extremely varied from city to city, religion to religion, time to time.

Question 11

what is the most useful source?

Answer 11

inscription is the most useful source as it is written by real people and is first hand.

Question 12

what forms of disposals of bodies in the geometric period are there?

Answer 12

there are 2 forms of display of bodies in the government period - burial or cremation (pots). these pots could have images on them such as grief (figures ripping their hair out) but no real detail was put into the drawings, only information was given not realism.

Question 13

what techniques do votive’s give us an idea of?

Answer 13

Votive’s (gifts for the gods) are most abundant at Olympia and give us an idea of the bronzing/molding techniques, again not naturalistic

Question 14

what was one of the most famous sanctuaries on the Mediterranean world?

Answer 14

Delphi - the sanctuary of Apollo - was one of the most famous sanctuaries in the Ancient Mediterranean world

Question 15

what did the Greeks believe about Delphi?

Answer 15

The Ancient Greeks believed that Delphi was at the center of the world and the Ompholos stone was at the center of the universe.

Question 16

are all sanctuaries the same?

Answer 16

no 2 sanctuaries are the same, but they do share some similarities such as a central sacred area alter etc.

Question 17

what features do some sanctuaries have?

Answer 17

some sanctuaries have theaters, some have a race track, some have walls around them and some have a temple, not all sanctuaries have these but all have votives

Question 18

what else can sanctuaries be?

Answer 18

Sanctuaries are primarily religious sites, but some (Delphi, Olympia) can be political or house competition such as the crown games which are housed at 4 sites, Delphi, Olympia, Nemea and Isthmea

Question 19

what would the winner of the crown games get?

Answer 19

people would come from all over to compete at the crown games, the winner would receive a crown of vegetation, olive leaves, oak leaves, laurel leaves etc.

Question 20

who was the oracle?

Answer 20

the person who the oracle spoke though was a human woman called a Pythia who spoke the words of Apollo, she was located in the basement under the temple of Apollo and sat atop a bronze tripod spouting her prophecies.

Question 21

how could you ask her a question? what would happen?

Answer 21

if you wanted to ask her a question, you wrote it down and gave it to a middle man who gave it to the Pythia, you had no direct contact - she would get the question and chew on laurel leaves said to put her into a hallucinogenic state and spout her prophecy.

Question 22

what actually put her into a hallucinogenic state?

Answer 22

it wasn’t the laurel leaves that put her into a hallucinogenic state, but the vapors that came out of the chasmous earth that she sat atop on her tripod that caused them.

Question 23

what purpose did a series of buildings have at the sanctuaries?

Answer 23

there was a series of buildings that were treasury buildings whats sole purpose was to serve as bank vaults. They were locked and housed the offerings

Question 24

why was their location interesting?

Answer 24

their location is interesting as they’re lining the main path which is intentional as they served as a kind of conspicuous consumption showing the wealth of certain poleis, the closer they were to the temple the closer they were to the god Apollo and the wealthier they were. it became a competition to see who could build the best and most ornate building.

Question 25

what happened when an athlete won?

Answer 25

Athletic victors who won in the crown games were prestigious, they are from the elite class as no one else had the time, and received tribute from their cities, but they didn’t represent their cities/poleis as there wasn’t a lot of nationalistic pride in ancient times

Question 26

what could they be rewarded with?

Answer 26

even though they didn’t represent their cities, they were still rewarded with things such as front row seats to the theater for life, food for life and even exemption from taxes

Question 27

was there a second place?

Answer 27

there was only first place or nothing, to lose would be very shameful on you although the gods picked the winner

Question 28

what could you do if you won at Delphi or Olympia?

Answer 28

if you won at Delphi or Olympia, you were entitled to erect a statue of yourself - this was more common at Olympia than Delphi

Question 29

what did Olympia produce?

Answer 29

Olympia produced the largest amount of armor and helms, there was a great number of military victory monuments there.