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Women in the Ancient World > Women in religion > Flashcards

Women in religion Flashcards

1
Q

What is an Arrephoroi?

A
  • Junior Athenian priestesses
  • Young girls who lived on the Acropolis and helped the Priestess of Athene Polias
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2
Q

What was an Ergastinai?

A
  • Experienced Athenian weavers who would craft Athene’s peplos
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3
Q

What is a Chiton?

A

A long woolen tunic, popular everyday attire in Athens

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4
Q

What is an Archon?

A
  • Every 10 years Archons were chosen randomly- one from each of the Athenian tribes
  • They acted as judges and each had responsibility for an important aspect of Athenian life
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5
Q

What is the Pnyx?

A
  • The meeting place of the Athenian Assembly
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6
Q

What is Ekstasis?

A
  • Standing outside oneself
  • The experience of being someone other than yourself- such as through being drunk, mad, or acting
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7
Q

What is a Maenad?

A
  • A female worshipper of Dionysus
  • Also known as Bacchant
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8
Q

What is a Thyrsus?

A
  • Staff covered with ivy leaves and topped with a pine cone
  • Symbol of the worshippers of Dionysus
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9
Q

What is an Ekphora?

A
  • The procession of a dead body from the wake to its burial site
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10
Q

What is a college (of priests)?

A
  • A group of Priests in Rome
  • Each serving the same god or a similar role
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11
Q

Who is Vesta?

A
  • The Roman Goddess of the hearth
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12
Q

What is the Atrium Vestae?

A
  • The house of the Vestal Virgins
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13
Q

Who is the Pontifex Maximus?

A
  • The chief priest of Roman religion
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14
Q

Who are the Flamines?

A
  • Members of the College of flamines
  • Had 15 members, each of whom served one of Rome’s major deities
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15
Q

Who is the Flamen Dialis?

A
  • The flamen who served Jupiter (Man)
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16
Q

Who is the Flaminica Dialis?

A
  • The Flamen Dialis’ wife
  • May have served Jupiter or Juno
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17
Q

What is a Univira?

A
  • A Roman woman who had only ever been married once
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18
Q

What was Pudicitia?

A
  • The Roman idea of a woman’s sexual modesty, chastity or faithfulness to her husband
  • Women who embodied Pudicitia were thought to be loved by Gods, so their prayers and sacrifices were more powerful
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19
Q

Who is the Bona Dea?

A
  • The Good Goddess
  • A Roman deity worshipped by women
  • An earth and fertility Goddess
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20
Q

What were the Sibylline books?

A
  • The books that were sold to the Romans by the Sibyll
  • They contained prophecies, giving Romans instructions about what rituals they should do to please the Gods
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21
Q

What was the name of the group of priests responsible for interpreting the Sibylline books?

A
  • Quindecemviri
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22
Q

What were the different types of sacrifice?

A
  • Votive offerings (Objects)
  • Libations (Valuable liquids)
  • Food offerings
  • Blood sacrifice (Animals)
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23
Q

Why would sacrifices be made to Gods?

A
  • To thank a God for something good that has happened
  • To ask the God for a particular favour
  • As part of an established ritual or festival
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24
Q

What were the three stages of prayer?

A

Invocation
- Addressing the God by name

Argument
- Remind the God of favours done and/or promise some more that will be done

Petition
- Make a request of the God

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25
Q

What was the key difference between sacrifices in Greece and Rome?

A
  • Women almost never took an active role in animal sacrifice in Rome
  • Greek women would play a much more active role
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26
Q

What were temples like?

A
  • Ordinary people did not go to them to worship
  • A temple was a home for the God it was dedicated to
  • It would usually include a statue of the God- a cult statue
  • Temples were big and ornate to show reverence to the God’s, and would often contain sacrificed treasure
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27
Q

What were festivals like?

A
  • A celebration of a God or Gods that took place at regular intervals and involved specific rituals
  • Greeks and Romans didn’t have weekends, so frequent festivals were their holidays
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28
Q

What were Priesthoods like?

A
  • Both Greece and Rome appointed specific people to oversee aspects of religious ritual
  • Usually serve the Gods by taking care of the temple and its cult statue, or taking an active role in particular festivals and sacrifices
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29
Q

What was the Greek word for Priestess?

A

Hiereia

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30
Q

How would a woman in Athens become a priestess?

A
  • Election, either chosen by lottery or inherited role from a parent
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31
Q

What were the main roles of an Athenian priestess?

A
  • Looking after the sanctuary and buildings inside it
  • Supervising work of temple attendants as they washed and clothed Cult Statue
  • Presiding at sacrifices and certain public festivals
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32
Q

Who was Athene Polias?

A
  • Athena
  • Protectress of the city (Polis)
  • The cult of Athene Polias was the most important faction of Athenian religion since it ensured the city walls wouldn’t be broken by invading armies
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33
Q

What were priesthoods like in Rome?

A
  • Vast majority were men
  • Religion and politics were very closely intertwined
  • Members of politically influential families tended to hold the most important jobs religion
34
Q

What were the responsibilities of the Vestal Virgins?

A
  • Tend to the sacred fire and ensure it never accidentally went out
  • To extinguish the fire, clean and purify temple, then relight fire once a year
  • To attend certain public festivals and sacrifices
  • Act as guardians of important documents, including wills and treaties
35
Q

What rights were the Vestal Virgins able to enjoy?

A
  • Free from a Paterfamilias, could manage their own property and write their own will
  • Protected from harm- hurting them was punishable by death
  • If they met someone to be executed, they could be pardoned
  • Special seats reserved for them at festivals and sacrifices
  • Lived in a palatial residence
36
Q

What restrictions were placed on the Vestal Virgins?

A
  • Severe consequences for failing in duties
37
Q

How would a Vestal Virgin be punished for being unchaste?

A
  • Punishable by death
  • Entombed in a cave and die of starvation or dehydration
  • This punishment could have mirrored Tarpeia’s death of being crushed under shields, as the Vestal virgin would be trapped under earth and rocks
38
Q

How many VV’s would there be at one time?

A
  • Six overall
39
Q

What would VV’s do throughout their service?

A

First decade of service
- Focus on learning the customs and rituals of the college

Second decade
- Focus on performing rituals and tending the fire

Final decade of service
- Focus on teaching the customs and rituals of the college to the least experienced priestesses

40
Q

What would happen once a Vestal Virgin completed her 30 years of service?

A
  • Released from their obligation to the Goddess
  • She was free to leave the house of the temple and to marry
  • Many chose not to marry and instead stayed in the house of the Vestal Virgins
41
Q

How were new Vestal Virgins selected?

A
  • 20 eligibile girls selected
  • Had to be between 6 and 10 years old, have no physical defects, and be the child of 2 living Roman citizens
  • If a girl had a sister who was a Vestal virgin, or if her father was a Flame, she was exempt
  • From this pool of 20 girls, one would be chosen and taken from her father by the Pontifex Maximus
42
Q

When was the house of the vestal virgins made and where is it?

A
  • AD 113
  • Eastern edge of the Roman forum
43
Q

Why is the location of the HotVV significant?

A
  • Located in the heart of Rome, showing importance of VVs
  • Located next to circular temple of Vesta, for practical and symbolic purposes
44
Q

What would the HotVVs contain?

A
  • Decorated with statues of senior VVs
  • Private rooms for each of the serving Vestals
  • Private shrine
  • Kitchens, a mill and an oven
45
Q

How would a woman become the Flaminica Dialis?

A
  • Married to the Flamen Dialis by the Confarreatio method
  • She was a virgin when she married him
46
Q

What rules applied to the Flaminica Dialis?

A
  • Not permitted to divorce her husband for any reason
  • If she died, her husband would have to give up his position
  • If her husband died, she’d have to give up her position
47
Q

What were the duties of the Flaminica Dialis?

A
  • Sacrificing a ram to Jupiter every eighth day, on market day
  • Weaving a ceremonial cloak for the Flamen Dialis
  • Attending certain festivals alongside her husband
  • Avoiding religious pollution by observing a series of superstitious rules, such as not cutting her hair or nails in June
48
Q

What is a story that shows the Roman attitude towards Pudicitia?

A
  • Claudia Quinta prayed to the Gods to help a ship that had run aground
  • As she was chaste and pure, the ship immediately broke loose and continued on its voyage
49
Q

When was the Pudicitia statue made, what is it made from, and its current location?

A
  • First Century AD
  • Marble
  • The Vatican Museum
50
Q

Who was allowed into the cult of Patricia Pudicitia?

A
  • Women of the Patrician class
  • Matronae who had only been married once
  • There was also a cult of Plebeia Pudicitia, and a temple was built for this cult, but it became polluted by unchaste women and it fell out of practice
51
Q

When and where did the worship of the Bona Dea take place?

A
  • Took place on the first night of May, in the middle of the Festival of Flora, in the house of the highest ranking magistrate in Rome
52
Q

What would happen at the worship of the Bona Dea?

A
  • The wife or mother of the magistrate whose house it was held at would preside
  • Invloved the sacrifice of a pig and a feast
  • Suggested that the Vestal Virgins carried out this blood sacrifice
53
Q

What scandal happened involving the worship of the Bona Dea?

A
  • It was a striclty female only worship, and only male animals would be removed from the house
  • A young nobleman named Clodius Pulcher infiltrated the rites
  • Julius Caesar’s wife, Pompeia, was hosting the rituals, and Pulcher wanted to sleep with her
  • He tried to disguise himself as a female lute player, but was discovered
  • The rituals had to be called off and rescheduled with even grander offerings to the Goddess to apoligse
  • Pulcher was charged with sacrilege and Caesar divorced Pompeia
54
Q

What would happen after an animal had been sacrificed in Greece?

A
  • A mantis would examine the entrails
  • Based on their colour and texture, the mantis would interpret whether the Gods approved of the sacrifice
55
Q

What were other common methods for divining messages from the Gods?

A
  • Interpreting flight patterns of birds
  • Interpreting the weather
56
Q

How could a mantis wield political power?

A
  • Governments would often consult them on matters of national importance
  • Lycrugus, the legendary Spartan lawgiver, consulted an oracle when he needed guidance on his legal reforms
  • A mantis would usually be taken on military campaigns
57
Q

Where did the Pythia reside?

A

The sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi

58
Q

What would people commonly ask the Pythia?

A
  • How to remove religious pollution
  • Whether they should move to a different part of the world
  • Whether the Gods were in favour of a given course of action
59
Q

What would happen on Consultation Day, and when would it happen?

A
  • Happened on the seventh day of each month
  • The Pythia would bathe in the sacred waters of the Castalian spring
  • Garland herself with bay leaves
  • Most accounts state the Pythia would be seated on a three-legged stool in the innermost room of the temple, which contained a chasm down into the Earth
  • The Pythia burnt barley and laurel leaves as an offering and then breathed deeply
  • When intoxicated, she would be ready to answer questions
60
Q

How would the Pythia be consulted?

A
  • Inquirers would bring offerings for Apollo and make an animal sacrifice
  • Always a man asking a question
  • The Pythia may have mumbled incomprehensibly, which would be interpreted by the temple’s priest, written down in verse, and given to the inquirer
61
Q

Who could be a Pythia?

A
  • Some sources say she had to be a local peasant woman, over the age of 50, who lived in Delphi, and lived a blameless life
  • Some say she was a virgin maiden
  • She would serve as Apollo’s priestess for the rest of her life and couldn’t have sex
62
Q

What were the three most important Athenian festivals?

A
  • Panatheneia
  • Thesmophoria
  • Dionysian Mysteries
63
Q

Why was the Panathenaia held and why?

A
  • Held every year
  • Celebrated Athena’s birthday and to celebrate the victory of the Gods over the Titans- Gigantomachy
  • Every four years, the great Panathenaia was held
64
Q

What would happen over the 8 days of the great Panathenaia?

A
  1. Poetry reciting and musical competitions
  2. Boy’s athletic competitions
  3. Men’s athletic competitions
  4. Equestrian competitions
  5. Strength, sailing and dancing competitions between men of different tribes
  6. All night torch race, procession and sacrifice
  7. Chariot and boat races
  8. Prize giving
65
Q

What were the roles of women in the Great Panathenaia?

A
  • Could watch the games but not compete
  • Weaving the peplos for Athena- they’d weave intricate patterns depicting the events of the Gigantomachy
  • Take active roles in the procession on the sixth day
66
Q

What does the section of the Parthenon frieze depicting women holding objects show?

A
  • Small groups of women holding equipment for sacrifices
  • They are carrying baskets, an incense holder, and vessels for libations
  • These girls are thought to be unmarried maidens
  • They’re wearing a long chiton with a peplos on top
67
Q

What is depicted in the focal point of the Parthenon Frieze?

A
  • Depicts the peplos with 5 figures
  • Two women on the left carry a stool to a third woman, as she seems to be directing them, she is probably a Priestess of Athena Polias
  • Two figures on the right hold the Peplos- one is a man, so probably an Archon
  • The smaller figure holding the Peploi is less clear and many people assume it is an Arrephoroi- however the hairstyle and musculature seem too masculine, and they’re also showing skin
68
Q

When was the Thesmophoria, why was it held, and who celebrated it?

A
  • Exclusively for married women
  • Held in the Autumn and honored Demeter
  • The primary function of the harvest was to ensure the success of the next year’s harvest
69
Q

How long did the Thesmophoria last and what would happen?

A

Day 1
- Worhsippers would set up temporary shelters near the Pnyx- this was significant as it was symbolic of the women taking over the city

Day 2
- Worhsippers would fast for this day and cover themselves in ashes in a ritual act of mourning , re-enacting Demeter’s grief at the loss of her daughter

Day 3
- Worshippers would pray for blessings related to fertility

70
Q

What other rituals would happen during the Thesmophoria?

A
  • Offerings made to Demeter and Persephone
  • Before the festival, pigs would be thrown down a chasm and their decomposed remains retrieved during the festival
  • The chasm represented the Underworld, and the pigs represented Persephones’ journey into the darkness and back to the light
  • The pigs remains were scattered on the fields to ensure a good harvest
71
Q

What opportunities would the Thesmophoria give Athenian women?

A
  • Escape the direct control of her Kyrios
  • Socialise and make new friends
  • As part of the rituals, women would make crude jokes with each other, to mimic those said to cheer Demeter when she was mourning
72
Q

What did the Dionysian Mysteries involve, and who would take place?

A
  • Women going out into the countryside, becoming intoxicated then singing and dancing
  • These women are referred to as Maenads
  • It is believed music, dancing and wine or drugs helped them to lose their inhibitions, shake off constraints of daily life, and have an ecstatic experience
73
Q

How is the women in the Maenad cup recognisable as a Maenad?

A
  • Her pose (she seems to be dancing)
  • Draped with a leopard skin, leopards were sacred to Dionysus
  • She is holding a staff covered in ivy leaves called a Thyrsus
  • Loose hairstyle which represents wildness and frenzy
  • Snake in her hair, which could represent her temporary madness or could relate to Dionysus’s role as God of death and rebirth, because snakes were associated with the Underworld
74
Q

What is the most extensive literary source we have for the Dionysian rituals?

A
  • Bacchae by Euripides
  • Tells the story of King Pentheus of Thebes and how he tried to stop the worship of Dionysus in his city
  • The God’s take great offence at this and plot Pentheus’ downfall- Dionysus arranges for Pentheus to infiltrate the rituals disguised as a woman
  • The Maenads, including Pentheus’ mother, Agave, notice Pentheus but in their madness mistake him for a lion cub
  • The women chase the ‘cub’, catch it, and tear it limb from limb
75
Q

What happened when someone died in Athens?

A
  • Responsibility of the women of the household to prepare it for burial- only direct relatives or women over the age of 60 were allowed to help
  • They would wash the body and dress any wounds
  • Annoint the body with perfumed oils and clothed in a white burial shroud
  • The body was garlanded with flowers and a coin placed in its mouth
76
Q

What happened during an Athenian wake?

A
  • The body would be laid out in the house and family and friends would come to pay their respects
  • The women of the household would engage in ritual laemntation for the dead
77
Q

How would Athenian women ritually lament?

A
  • Cut their hair short
  • Dress in tattered clothing
  • Dirty themselves with ashes
  • They would wail, beat their breasts and scratch their cheeks until they drew blood
  • Some wealthy families would hire professional mourners
78
Q

In Athens, what would happen on the third day after death?

A
  • The body was carried in a procession known as the Ekphora
  • It vegan at the deceased’s house and ended at the burial site
  • This would be accompanied by sombre music, and the women of the household singing mourning songs
79
Q

What would happen during a burial in Athens?

A
  • The body was laid in the ground, and may have been buried with objects of value (unmarried girls would be buried in wedding clothes, showing they were now married to death)
  • After the burial, mourners would pour libations and make food offerings to the Shade of the deceased
  • The family would usually enjoy an animal sacrifice and have a feast
80
Q

Who created the cult of Plebeia Pudicitia and why?

A
  • Verginia
  • She was patrician but had married a plebeian man, so wasn’t allowed in the Patricia Pudicitia cult
81
Q

What happened to the Sibylline books?

A
  • In 83 BC a fire destroyed the Temple of Jupiter and the books within
  • After this event, the Senate ordered the Quindecemviri to make a new collection of prophecies from various reputable sources

Women in the Ancient World (8 decks)

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