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Classics GCSE > Women in Religion (Greece) > Flashcards

Women in Religion (Greece) Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a pantheon?

A

a group of gods and goddesses

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2
Q

What is a hiereia?

hiereus (masculine)

A

a greek priestess

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3
Q

what is a sanctuary?

A
  • an area of sacred land set apart from the rest of the city
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4
Q

What is religious pollution?

A
  • state of uncleaniness acquired in a number of ways
  • eg. coming into contact with a dead person, having sex, killing outside of war
  • offended the gods
  • prevented participation in religious festivals
  • removed by ritual cleansing
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5
Q

Who did priestesses serve?

A
  • goddesses in general
  • dionysus + apollo were exceptions
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6
Q

Where did the priests and priestesses work?

A
  • a particular temple within a particular sanctuary in honour of a particular god
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7
Q

How were priestesses and priests selected?

A
  • drawn by lottery
  • inherited from parents
  • served for a year
  • no need for studying theology or go through extensive training
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8
Q

What was the main role of a priestess?

A
  • looking after the sanctuary and buildings inside it
  • supervising the work of temple attendants as they washed and clothed the statue of the god
  • presiding at sacrifices and certain public festivals
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9
Q

What were the benefits of being a priestess?

A
  • salaried positions (some pay very well)
  • kept legs and skins of sacrificed animals -> could be sold for profit
  • considerable influence + high respect throughout Greek society
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10
Q

What was an example of a priestess demonstrating her power?

A
  • Cleomenes, a Spartan king had to turn back form Acropolis (Athens’ most important sancutuary)
  • Priestess of Athena refused entry
  • power over “ordinary” men, even if he was a king

Documented by Herodotus

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11
Q

What are the different types of sacrifice?

A
  • votives = small figurines/ valuable objects left on altar
  • libations = liquid offerings poured on ground
  • food offerings left on altar
  • animal sacrifices (domestic animal)
  • ritually killed and burnt as an offering
  • done when asking for a favour/ thanking for granted favour
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12
Q

What was the role of priestesses during a sacrifice?

A
  • kills animal at altar outside of temple
  • pray + direct attendants to carve meat
  • burning some for god + cooking the rest
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13
Q

What were the role of attendants during a sacrifice?

A
  • moment of death of animal, female attendants shout “ololyge”
  • high pitched ritual cry - marks transition from life to death
  • all celebrants eat meat of sacrificed animal, enjoy communal feast
  • meat was expensive + a luxury, only eaten occasionally
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14
Q

What is a mantis?

A
  • a prophet, seer or soothsayer
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15
Q

What was a common motif among mantis?

A
  • palm tree
  • associated with island of Delos
  • birthplace of Apollo, god of prophecy
  • holding organs
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16
Q

What does a mantis do?

A
  • examines entrails after an animal was killed
  • based on colour + texture could interpret whether if gods accepted sacrifice
  • interpret answer from asked questions from organs
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17
Q

What other methods of divining messages does a mantis do?

A
  • interpreting flight patterns of birds
  • changes in the weather
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18
Q

What are examples of a mantis holding great political power?

A
  • Lycurgus consulted oracle when he needed guidance on legal reforms
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19
Q

What kind of training does a mantis need?

A
  • none
  • could claim to have prophetic gifts
  • becomes successful by acquiring a reputation for accurate prophecies
  • prophecies were often vague = can’t be proved wrong
  • can say that oracle is misinterpreted
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20
Q

Who was the pythia and where did she live?

A
  • most important ancient greek mantis
  • lived in the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi
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21
Q

What did people ask the Pythia?

A
  • important decisions
  • moving to another part of the world
  • how to remove religious pollution
  • how to earn gods’ forgiveness etc
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22
Q

How did the pythia perform the ritual of letting apollo take over her body?

A
  • bathe herself in nearby Castalian Spring
  • garland herself with bay leaves (Apollo’s sacred plant)
  • seat herself on three-legged stool in innermost room of temple
  • in room was chasm down the earth
  • burn barley and laurel leaves as offering to apollo, breathed deeply
  • smoke from fire/ fumes intoxicate her
  • temporarily letting apollo take control of her body
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23
Q

What would the inquirers do after the pythia is intoxicated?

A
  • make animal sacrifice
  • ask question and wait for answer
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24
Q

How did the Pythia respond to the inquirers?

A
  • mumble and groan incomprehensibly
  • interpreted by priests
  • written down in verse and given to inquirer
  • or pythia would answer in plain greek
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25
Q

Who could be the pythia?

A
  • local peasant woman over 50, born in delphi and lived a blameless life
  • or virgin maiden
  • either way serves as apollo’s priestess for the rest of her life and had to refrain from having sex
  • when she died woman would be chosen to replace her
26
Q

When was consulatation day?

A
  • seventh day of each month
27
Q

What is the significance of the women depicted on the east side of the parthenon frieze?

A
  • rewards women for being modest
  • women are all heavily draped, introverted gaze (compare to grave stele)
  • implies importance of women in festival
  • less dynamic than men- static
28
Q

Which god is the Panathenia in honour of?

A
  • Athena Polias
  • role of protector of city (polis)
  • all of Athens is represented in festival
  • share pride in city and success
29
Q

What is the importance of the role of weaving the peplos for Athena’s olive wood statue for women?

A
  • women’s skill as weavers and cloth makers = valued role
  • encourages them to partake in activity
30
Q

What does the peplos depict?

A
  • images of battle between gods and giants
  • symbolises victory of civilisation over barbarity
  • peplos is purple and saffron (expensive)
31
Q

What happens during the procession during the Panathenia?

A
  • peplos draped ceremonially like sail of ship over a cart on wheels
  • kanephoroi (young virgins of noble blood) carry scared baskets
  • brought sacrifical animals that would be presented at Athena’s altar along with peplos
32
Q

what do the females do during the procession?

A
  • mingle freely with noble Athenian men
  • unusual
  • reward to their modesty and work during daily life
33
Q

What was the high priestess of Athena Polias?

A
  • most important religious position in Athens
  • held by woman from noble family
  • exerted considerable influence religiously and politically
  • religious role is an honour not allowed in other areas of life in women
34
Q

Which God did the Thesmophoria honour?

A
  • demeter, goddess of agriculture, fertility and harvest
35
Q

What happened to Persephone and Demeter?

A
  • P got abducted by Hades to make her new queen of underworld
  • ate 6 promegranate seeds
  • D gets sad and no plants grew (winter)
  • zeus gets Hades to release her for 6 months
  • explains seasons
36
Q

Who was the Thesmopohoria for?

A
  • exclusively for married women
37
Q

When was the Thesmophoria held?

A
  • in autumn
38
Q

What was the primary function of the festival?

A
  • ensure success of next year’s harvest
  • corn seed sown after ritual = important that Demeter was honoured
39
Q

How long was the Thesmophoria?

A
  • three days
40
Q

What happened on the first day of the Thesmophoria?

A
  • set up temporary shelters near Pnyx (where Athenian assembly met)
  • symbolically took over the city
41
Q

What happened on the second day of the Thesmophoria?

A
  • fast for the day and sit on ground
  • covering themselves in ashes
  • ritual act of mourning, re-enacting Demeter’s grief at the loss of daughter
42
Q

What happened on the third day of the Thesmophoria?

A
  • pray for blessings related to fertility
  • for children, future families and bountiful crops
43
Q

What happened some time before the festival?

A
  • piglets cast down into chasm
  • decomposed remains retrieved during festival
44
Q

What did the act of throwing the piglets into the chasm symbolise?

A
  • chasm = underworld
  • piglets = persephone’s journey into darkness and back to light
45
Q

What would happen with the remains of the piglets?

A
  • mixed with corn seed, placed on altar
  • scattered on field to ensure good harvest
46
Q

Why might the festival be enjoyable for women?

A
  • few opportunties to escape direct control of kyrios
  • socialise, make new friends
  • part of ritual- joking with each other (crude)
  • mimicked those said to Demeter to cheer her up when she was grieving
47
Q

Why might the information for the Thesmophoria be inaccurate?

A
  • it was a mystery cult
  • majority of account were by people with no first hand evidence
48
Q

What is ekstasis

A
  • stepping outside of oneself
  • experience of being someone other than yourself
49
Q

What was Dionysus the God of?

A
  • wine, theatre, madness
50
Q

What is a maenad?

A
  • female worshipper of dionysus
  • aka bacchant
51
Q

Describe the Maenad cup

A
  • woman with hair loose
  • draped with leopard skin
  • holding staff covered in ivy leaves (thyrsus)
  • dancing pose
  • snake wrapped around head
52
Q

What did wearing the leopard skin symbolise?

A
  • leopards are sacred to dionysus
  • followers often wore leopard cloaks
  • some accounts maenads chase after wild animals in ritual madness
53
Q

What does the woman holding a thyrsus symbolise?

A
  • staff is symbol of dionysus
54
Q

what does the snake wrapping around the maenad’s head mean?

A
  • temporary madness
  • refers to dionysus’ roles as god of death and rebirth (associated with underworld)
55
Q

What does the loose hair on a maenad represent?

A
  • wildness and frenzy
  • hair tied up = respectability and self control
56
Q

What could be the function of the maenad on the bottom of the cup?

A
  • surprises drinker once they empty their cup
  • association with dionysus = wine
57
Q

Summary of Bacchae by Euripides

A
  • Pentheus, king of Thebes wanted people to stop worshipping D
  • D takes great offence
  • plots for his downfall
  • makes P infiltrate rituals disguised as woman
  • Agave (P’s mother) notice Pentheus in madness
  • mistakes him for lion cub
  • women chase “cub” tear it from limb to limb
  • Agave realises what she did at the end of play
58
Q

Quote from Bacchae, Euripides that shows what men are scared of women becoming

A

“One of those women tore a poor, tiny calf away from its mother’s udder and others ripped calves to bloody pieces with their bare hands”

59
Q

What should we keep in mind when studying sources from men about the worship of Dionysus?

A
  • tainted with bias
  • no first hand evidence
  • could have kernel of truth
60
Q

What did women do when someone needs to be buried?

A
  • wash body
  • dress any wounds
  • anointed with purfume oils, clothed in white burial shroud
  • garlanded with flowers with coin pressed onto mouth
  • pays for crossing into underworld through river Styx, given to Charon
61
Q

What did women do for the ritual lamentation of the dead?

A
  • cut hair short
  • dress in tattered clothing
  • dirty themselves with ashes
  • wail, beat breasts and scratch cheeks until they bled
  • not display of genuine emotion -> carefully planned out ritual pageant designed to uphold family reputation

Classics GCSE (10 decks)

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