Sacred Texts Classics Index Previous
Greek Popular Religion, by Martin P. Nilsson, [1940], at sacred-texts.com
Acheloos, 11
Acquirer, the, epithet of Zeus, 67, 70
Actaeon, 113
Acts, ancient Greek piety expressed in, 73, 76
Adam, James, 3
Aeschines, 93, 97 n; quoted, 74
Aeschylus, 68, 70, 108; Agamemnon, 109
Agriculture, pastoral life, 5 ff.; understanding of Greek popular religion must start from, 5; climatic conditions and crops, 6, 51; customs and festivals, 22-41; importance of, 22, 57; basis of Eleusinian Mysteries an agrarian cult, 42, 45, 49, 54, 57 ff.; idea that civilized and peaceful life is created by, 57 ff.
Agyieus, see Apollo Agyieus
Aiora, festival, 33
Alms, customs of asking for, 37, 38
Amphictyonies, 98
Anaktes (the Dioscuri), 69
Animal sacrifice, 87; meaning and origin, 74 f.
Anthesteria, festival, 31, 33 f., 35
Anthropology and study of religion, 3
Apocalypse of St. Peter, 119
Apollo, 9, 10, 15, 23, 39, 47, 98, 103, 108, 112; Thargelia dedicated to, 27; as averter of evil, 79 f.; god of healing, 93; ritualism which he promoted concerned only with cult, 106, 107; see also Delphic oracle
Apulunas, 79
Archilochus, quoted, 74
Archons, newly elected, 66-67, 82 Ares, 112
Aristophanes, 36, 66, 80, 87, 91, 93, 94, 96, 97, 100, 111, 122; references to Eleusinian Mysteries, 58, 59; attitude toward seers and oracles, 132, 133; exposition of natural philosophy, 136; The Birds, 132; The Clouds, 136; The Frogs, 118; The Knights, 132; The Peace, 92
Aristotle, 4 n, 23, 86, 122, 137
Armistice during festivals, 99
Artemis, 15 ff., 18, 21, 30, 39, 65; foremost of the nymphs, 16, 17; epithets, 16
Artisans and their deities, 87-90
Asclepius, 20, 95, 121; cults and sanctuary, 93 f.
Astrology, 106
Atheism, trials for, 94, 133, 137
Athena, 32, 35, 47, 60, 61, 81, 132; holy snake of, 72; epithet Phratia, 83; temple, 86; protectress of artisans, 88 f.
Athens, praised as cradle of civilization, 56; leadership in commerce and culture, 86; patriotism and piety, 86 f.
Autumn festivals, 24-26, 42, 46, 49; see also Thesmophoria
Bacchos, 47, 62, 96; see also Dionysus
Bacchylides, 69
Baptism in cult of Kotyto, 93
Bendis, 92
Birds, The, 132
Birth of child, representations of, 61
Brotherhood of humanity, 58, 63
Campbell, Lewis, 3
Carnea, festival, 35; armistice during, 99
Celestial phenomena, physical explanation of, 134 ff.
Chalkeia, festival, 89
Charon, 116
Child, birth of, in art, 61
Chresmologoi, the, 127
Christianity, swept away the great gods, 16; Greek religion and, 20, 31, 73, 75, 76, 100
Christmas, resemblance to Anthesteria, 34
Circle, magic, 28
Cities, so-called, often villages, 5, 22; religion . of, 84-101; life and conditions in, 84 ff.; country population crowded into, unemployment, 84; lead in culture, 84, 85; home of the great gods, 85 ff.; great temples, 86; artisans, 87-89; foreign gods brought in, 90 ff.; skepticism and emotionalism, 94-97; panegyreis, 97-101
Citizenship, proof of, 67, 82 Cleisthenes, 82
Clement of Alexandria, 43, 50; quoted, 45
Climatic conditions, and crops, 6, 51
Clouds, The, 136
Comedy, origin of, 36
Corn, as wealth, 51; in Eleusinian rites, 55
Corn deities, 24, 51, 52; see also Demeter; Kore
Crafts and their deities, 87-90
Critias, 135
Crops, relation to climate, 51; see also Agriculture
Cult places, see Sanctuaries
Cumont, F., 119
Curses on leaden tablets, 114
Daemons, nature, 10 ff.
Danaids, the, 116
Days, The, 105 f.
Dead, the, beliefs about, 8; offerings to, 8, 30, 34; abode of, 9, 59, 64, 115-20; souls represented by snake, 71; cult of, 115 ff.; see also Ghosts; Heroes
Death, ideas evoked by Eleusinian Mysteries, 59, 63
Deisidaimonia, 110
Delphic oracle, 20, 23, 57, 123, 128, 130, 133, 136; attitude toward legalism and mysticism, 106-108; popularity based on ability to foretell future, 124
Demeter, 23, 27, 32, 92, 98, 104, 135; goddess of cereals, 24, 50, 52 n; rites and festivals, 24 ff., 33, 36; Mysteries of, 32, 45; a goddess of the religion of Eleusis, 46 ff.; myth of the rape of daughter of, 48 ff.; Ploutos born of Iasion and, 51, 62; reunion with Kore, 54-55
Democritus, quoted, 118
Descent of Kore, festival, 52; see also Kore
Diagoras, 122
Dieterich, A., 119
Dionysus, 13, 32, 35, 39, 60, 93, 135; festivals, 23, 33, 34, 35 ff., 47, 86; Mysteries of, 31, 32, 50; date, functions, 35; costume, 47; mixing up of cult of, with Mysteries of Eleusis, 48, 62; popularity as herald of mystic and ecstatic religion, 103
Diopeithes, 133; trials initiated by, 134, 137
Disease, healers of, 20, 93 f., 95; superstitions relating to, 111 ff.
Dörpfeld, W., 79
Drama, origin in rural customs, 36
Dreams, belief in, 124, 125, 136
Earthquakes, 11
Eiresione, 29, 36, 39; see also May bough
Eleusinian Mysteries, 7, 25, 31, 39, 42-64, 95, 99, 116; basis of, an agrarian cult, 42, 45, 49, 54; secret rites, 42 ff.; akin to the Thesmophoria, 42, 44, 46, 49; treatment by Christian authors, 43; belonged to Eumolpidae, 43, 46, 81; modern attempts to find out kernel of, 44; antiquity and persistence of, 46, 63; mixed with cult of Dionysus, 48, 62; kernel of, the ascent of Corn Maiden, 54; deeper ideas of life and death evoked by, 59, 63; trials for profanation of, 94, 122
Eleusis, religion of, 42-64; antiquity of cult, 46, 63; deities, 46 ff., 60; founded upon idea of agriculture as creating civilized and peaceful life, 57
Empedocles, 99
Encirclement, magical rite, 28
Enodia, name for Hecate, 91
Epidaurus, sanctuary at, 86, 93, 94, 113
Epilepsy, 111 f.
Ergane, 89; see also Athena
Erichthonios, 61
Eumolpidae, family of the, 43, 46, 81
Europe, northern: similarities between beliefs and customs of Greece and, 12, 13, 26, 29, 37, 41, 71
Euthymus, 18
Evans, Sir Arthur, 71
Evil, averters of, 78 ff.
Fairs at panegyreis, 100
Families, cults under care of, 46, 81
Family, the model and basis of state organization, 75
Farnell, L. R., 20
Father, epithet of Zeus, 70, 77
Female, see Women
Fertility, festivals and magic, 25, 26, 27, 29, 33, 34, 36, 49
Festivals, rural, 22-41; Eleusinian Mysteries originally an autumn festival, 42, 49; of cities, 87, 89, 92, 97 ff.; women's part in, 96; the panegyreis, 97-101
First fruits, offering of, 27 ff.
Fleece, 7
Flowers, festival of, 33 f., 35; crown of, 40
Folklore, connection with religion, 40, 72, 110
Foreigners and strangers, 58, 73, 77
Foreign gods brought into Greece, 90, 91 ff.
Foretelling of the future, 123 ff.; see also Oracles and Seers
Frazer, Sir James, 3
Fruits, as food, 22, 32; festivals and offerings, 27 ff., 30, 36
Furtwängler, A., 62
Future, foretelling of the, 123 ff.; see also Oracles and Seers
Ge, 62
Generations, eternity of life through, 60, 63
Genetyllis, 96
Ghosts, heroes as, 18, 112; lamia and other specters, 91; goddess of, 111; see also Heroes
Gods, see Great gods; also under name, e.g., Apollo; Demeter
Golden Fleece, 7
Gorgias, 99
Gospel of St. John, excerpt, 59
Great gods, outlived by minor deities, 16, 18, 21, 41; religion in cities, 85 ff.; as state gods became remote from men, 87, 121
Harvest festivals, 26 ff.
Healers of disease, 20, 93 f., 95, 112, 113
Hearth, sanctity of, 72 f., 75 ff.; role in public cult, 75
Hecate, 80, III, 112, 115; origin, cult, 90 f.; devotion of women to, 97
Hell, beliefs concerning, 118-20
Heracles, 60, 78; difference between Theseus and, 57
Heraclitus, 135
Herkeios, epithet of Zeus, 66-67, 78, 82, 83
Hermes, 8, 91 10, 21, 53, 61, 62, 115
Herms, 8, 9, 18; trials for smashing of, 94, 122
Herodotus 72, 73, 81, 85, 109; biography of Homer attributed to, 37i 88; oracles and presages related by, 124, 128, 129
Heroes, nature of, functions, 18 If., 21; ghost stories about, 18, 112; tombs and sanctuaries, 19; similarity to saints, 20; in Eleusinian religion, 47, 60; as gods of healing, 93
Hesiod, cited, 10, 35, 51, 65, 74, 85, 108, 110; references to Demeter, 24; ideal of peace and justice, 57; rules for religious life and conduct of man, 104 ff.; origin, 104; Theogony, 90; Works and Days, 104 ff.
Hestia, 72, 73, 76; position and importance of, 75
Hierocles, 133
Hieron, skyphos by, 56 n
Hippocrates, De morbo sacro, 111 f., 113
Holy disease, 111 f.
Homer, cited, 12, 15, 19, 21, 24, 26, 35, 51, 59, 65, 66, 78, 88, 89, 93, 110, 116, 117, 135; biography of, attributed to Herodotus, 37, 88; sanctuaries described by, 81, 86; called creator of the gods, 85
Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 51, 56, 90; references to the Eleusinian cult, 43, 45, 58; myth of the rape of Demeter's daughter, 48, 49
Homeric Hymn to Hermes, 9, 10, 65
Houses, described, 65 f.; hearth, 72
Hrozný, B., 79
Hunting, goddess of, 15
Hybris, conception of, 108 f.
Hyperborean virgins, 38
Icarius, 33
Immortality, beliefs concerning, 60, 63, 64, 116
Impiety, trials for, 94, 122, 133, 137
Imprecations on leaden tablets, 114 f.
Initiation rites, Eleusinian, 45, 49
Isocrates, 56
Isthmia, games, 98
Jupiter, 70; see also Zeus
Justice, problem of, 77, 108 f.; retributive, 117
Kalamaia, festival, 26
Kallias, cited, 56
Karneia, festival, 35; armistice during, 99
Kataibates, epithet of Zeus, 67
Katharmoi, 99
Kephisodotos, statue of "Peace" by, 61, 62
Kernos, 31
Kipling, Rudyard, quoted, 71
Knights, The, 132
Kolias, 96
Kollyba, 31
Kore, Corn Maiden, 24, 32; as Eleusinian goddess, 46 ff.; myth of rape by Plouton, 48 ff.; aspects referring to life and to death, 53; reunion with Corn Mother, 54; see also Persephone
Kotyto, 93
Ktesios, epithet of Zeus, 67-69, 78
Lakrateides, 48
Lamia, 91
Lang, Andrew, 3
Laurel branch, 39
Leagues for protection of sanctuaries, 98
Legalism, 103 ff.
Life, ideas of, evoked by Eleusinian Mysteries, 59, 63
Lightning, god of, 67
Loaf offered as first fruit, 27, 28
Lovatelli, Countess, 49
Lunar month, 106
Lying in the mud, 116, 118, 120
Lysimachides, relief by, 46
Magic, weather, 6, 7; fertility, 25, 27, 29, 33, 34, 49; purificatory, 27-28; as cure for diseases, 112; Plato's attitude toward, 113; widespread belief in, 115; see also Witchcraft and sorcery
Magna Mater, see Great Mother
Marathonian tetrapolis, calendar, 19
Masks, votive, 16
Masses, fate of religion determined by, 4
Mater dolorosa, Greek (Demeter), 54
Maximus of Tyre, 23
May bough, 29, 36; customs, 37, 39 f.; symbolism, 38
Meals, sanctity of, 73 f.
Meat, 22
Megaron, described, 66; hearth, 72
Meilichios, epithet of Zeus, 69-70
Melanaigis, epithet of Dionysus, 36
Menander, 68
Miraculous healings, 95
Modern and ancient customs, 23, 26, 37, 38, 41, 71, 72, 100, 110
Modern research, 3 ff.
Moirai, the, 14
Monsters, 91
Morality associated with agriculture, 58, 63
Mostellaria, 113
Mud, lying in the, 116, 118, 120
Mystic and ecstatic cults, 63, 95, 97, 103, 108; see also Eleusinian Mysteries
Natural philosophy, clash with religion, 134-38
Nemea, games, 98
Nemesis, conception of, 108 f.
Olives, 32
Olympia, sanctuary at, 86, 98, 99
Omens, belief in, 123 ff.; see also Oracles
Onomacritus, 128
Oracles and seers, 123-38; military dependence upon, 125, 130; questions to, 125; political role, 127, 130; collections of oracles, 129; critics of, 129, 130; causes that undermined belief in, 136 f.
Orgeones, 82
Orphism, 103, 116, 117, 119, 128
Oschophoria, festival, 25, 34, 35
Otto, W. F., 4
Panagia Euangelistria, 95
Panegyreis, 97-101; religious significance, 97, 100; sanctuaries, 98; importance, national and cultural, 99
Panegyricus, 56
Pasios, epithet of Zeus, 67
Pastoral life and religion, 5-21, 22-41
Peace, The, 92
Peasants, customs and religion, 5 ff., 22 ff.
Persephone, 47, 48, 53, 61; varying forms of name, 53; two aspects referring to life and to death, 53; see also Kore
Peterich, E., 4
Phallus, 36
Pherephatta, 53
Philologists, research by, 3
Phoenix of Colophon, 38
Phratries, 82
Piety, expression of, by Greeks and moderns, 73, 76
Pitza, cave at, 14
Plato, religious importance, 4; attitude toward magic and magicians, 113 f.; influence of accounts of the other world, 119; Republic, 118
Plautus, Mostellaria, 113
Plouton, 47, 48, 51, 52, 61, 62; myth of the rape of Demeter's daughter by, 48 ff.
Plutarch, 36, 42, 97, 126, 131, 134 Politics, see State
Polycrates, 109
Polygnotus, picture at Delphi by, 116, 117
Pompeian frescoes, 17
Poseidon, 11, 18, 21, 81, 88, 112
Potters and their deities, 87-90
Poverty and social distress, age of, 84, 102
Prayer, in words and in acts, 73
Presages, belief in, 123 ff.; see also Oracles and Seers
Prodicus, 135
Profane and sacred intermingled, 40, 76, 100
Prudentius, 60
Psychosabbaton, the, 31
Punishment in the other world, 114-20
Purification a complement of legalism, 104
Purificatory rites, 27 f.
Pythia, games, 98
Relics, of saints and heroes, 20
Religion, modern investigations, 3 ff.; primitive elements, 3, 5; systematization, 4; popular, the most long-lived, 16, 18, 21, 32, 41, 139; Christian and Greek forms, 20, 31, 73, 75, 76, 100; connection with folk-lore, 40, 72, 110; sacred and secular intermingled, 40, 76, 100; Eleusinian Mysteries the finest bloom of Greek popular, 42; power and persistence of the most venerable, 63; ancient and modern expressions of piety compared, 73, 76; social aspect, 80 ff., 101; unity of state and, 80, 86, 123, 137; criticism by Sophists and others, 94, 122, 133, 135 f.; trials for impiety, 94, 122, 133, 137; emotional, of women, 95-97; age in which new movements originated, 102; two main streams of contrasting ideas, 103; encounters political life and the new enlightenment, 121 ff.; clash with natural philosophy, 134-138; dependence on, and change with, conditions of life, 138
Republic, 118
Retributive justice, 117
Ritualism, 105, 107; see also Legalism
Rivers, gods and spirits, 10 f.
Rohde, Erwin, 103
Rural, life and religion, 5-21; sanctuaries, 14, 18, 81, 86; customs and festivals, 22-41
Rustic Dionysia, 36
Sabazios, a form of Dionysus, 93, 96, 110, 121
Sacred and profane intermingled, 40, 76, 100
Sacrifice, animal, 87; meaning and origin, 74 f.
Saints, similarity of heroes to, 20
Salaminioi, inscription of, 19
Sanctity, inherent in the place, 76
Sanctuaries, rustic, 14, 18, 81, 86; the temples, 46, 80, 81, 85f., 87; of panegyreis, 98
Secular and sacred intermingled, 40, 76, 100
Seers and oracles, 123-38; see also Oracles and Seers
Seven Sages, 108
Sexual symbols in Eleusinian Mysteries, 44
Shrines, see Sanctuaries
Sibylline Books, 129
Sickness, healers of, 20, 93 f., 95; superstitions relating to, 111 ff.
Skirophoria, festival, 25
Slaves admitted to Eleusinian Mysteries, 58
Smith, W. Robertson, 74
Snake, in house cult, 67-72; gods in guise of or represented by, 67-72; souls of dead represented by, 71; Minoan snake-goddess, 71; in cult of Athena, 72
Social aspect of religion, 80 ff., 101 Social distress and poverty, 84, 102 Social justice, problem of, 77, 108 f.
Socrates, 136; so-called prison of, 14; trial, 122, 137
Sophists, 99; attacks against religion, 94, 122, 133, 135 f.; views of, confused with natural philosophy, 136
Sophocles, 58, 66, 88; made a hero under name of Dexion, 94; religious beliefs, 135
Sorcery, see Witchcraft and sorcery
Soter, epithet of Zeus, 70
Soul, the, 116
Specters, 91; see also Ghosts
State and religion, 80, 86, 123, 137; role of oracles, 127 ff.
Stone heaps, 8; see also Herms
Stones, cult of, 79 f.
Strabo, on ancient landscape, 17 f.
Strangers and foreigners, 58, 73, 77
Superstition, defined, fro; distinguished from religion, 110 f.; amount of, beliefs, 111 ff.
Suppliants, 77
Swinging festival, 33
Tabellae defixionis, 114 f.
Telemachos of Acharnae, 94
Temples, 80, 81; rustic sanctuaries, 14, 18, 81, 86; Mycenaean mystery hall, 46; the great temples, 85 f., 87
Thallophoroi on Parthenon frieze, 40
Thalysia, festival, 24, 26 f., 29, 30
Thargelia, festival, 27 f., 29, 37
Theocritus, 26
Theogony, 90
Theology, 4
Thesmophoria, festival, 24-26, 32; links with Eleusinian Mysteries, 42, 44, 46, 49
Thetis, 14
Thucydides, 65; attitude toward oracles, 130, 131
Thucydides, statesman, 134
Tisamenus, 127
Tomb cult, 115
Towns, see Cities
Tragedy, origin of, 36
Trials for impiety, 94, 122, 133, 137
Triptolemos, 47, 55 f., 57, 60, 61
Truces during festivals, 99
Underworld, beliefs concerning, 9, 59, 64, 115-20
Valmin, M. N., 66 n
Vegetation, deities, 35, 50; connection of Kore myth with, 50; cycle represented by Adonis, 96; see also Agriculture
Vesta, 72; see also Hestia
Viticulture, 32; festivals, 32 ff.
Votive masks, 16
War, heroes helpful in, 19; part played by oracles and seers, 125, 130
Water, deities, 10 f., 12, 14 Wayfarers, 8
Wealth, god of, 51, 61; corn as, 51
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U. von, 3
Wine, festivals, 32 ff.; god of, 35
Witchcraft and sorcery, 78, 80, 111, 114, 115; goddess of, 90, 91, 97, 111
Women, religion of, 14, 15, 95-97; festivals of Demeter celebrated by, 25; subordinate position of, 96
Works and Days, 104
Writers, expression of religious thought, 3 f.
Xenophanes, 135
Xenophon, 79, 110; belief in oracles and presages, 123 f., 126, 127
Zeus, 24, 32, 50, 57, 82, 86, 89, 104, 105, 107; as weather god, 6-8, 21, 67, 136; as god of house and family, 66 ff.; epithets of, 66 ff., 83; in guise of snake, 67, 68, 69, 71 f.; the Dioscuri sons of, 68, 72; as father, 70, 77; as protector, 77 f., 108; change in status of, 78
Zeus Akraios, 7
Zeus Herkeios, 66-67, 78, 82, 83
Zeus Kataibates, 67
Zeus Lykaios, 6
Zeus Maimaktes, 7
Zeus Melosios, 7
Zeus Panhellenios, 7
Zeus Soter, 70