{"collection":"Classics","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/cla/gpr/gpr26.htm","path":"cla/gpr/gpr26.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/cla/gpr/gpr26.htm","text":"Greek Popular Religion, by Martin P. Nilsson, [1940]\nAcheloos, 11\nAcquirer, the, epithet of Zeus, 67, 70\nActaeon, 113\nActs, ancient Greek piety expressed in, 73, 76\nAdam, James, 3\nAeschines, 93, 97 n; quoted, 74\nAeschylus, 68, 70, 108; Agamemnon, 109\nAgriculture, 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.\nAgyieus, see Apollo Agyieus\nAiora, festival, 33\nAlms, customs of asking for, 37, 38\nAmphictyonies, 98\nAnaktes (the Dioscuri), 69\nAnimal sacrifice, 87; meaning and origin, 74 f.\nAnthesteria, festival, 31, 33 f., 35\nAnthropology and study of religion, 3\nApocalypse of St. Peter, 119\nApollo, 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\nApulunas, 79\nArchilochus, quoted, 74\nArchons, newly elected, 66-67, 82 Ares, 112\nAristophanes, 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\nAristotle, 4 n, 23, 86, 122, 137\nArmistice during festivals, 99\nArtemis, 15 ff., 18, 21, 30, 39, 65; foremost of the nymphs, 16, 17; epithets, 16\nArtisans and their deities, 87-90\nAsclepius, 20, 95, 121; cults and sanctuary, 93 f.\nAstrology, 106\nAtheism, trials for, 94, 133, 137\nAthena, 32, 35, 47, 60, 61, 81, 132; holy snake of, 72; epithet Phratia, 83; temple, 86; protectress of artisans, 88 f.\nAthens, praised as cradle of civilization, 56; leadership in commerce and culture, 86; patriotism and piety, 86 f.\nAutumn festivals, 24-26, 42, 46, 49; see also Thesmophoria\nBacchos, 47, 62, 96; see also Dionysus\nBacchylides, 69\nBaptism in cult of Kotyto, 93\nBendis, 92\nBirds, The, 132\nBirth of child, representations of, 61\nBrotherhood of humanity, 58, 63\nCampbell, Lewis, 3\nCarnea, festival, 35; armistice during, 99\nCelestial phenomena, physical explanation of, 134 ff.\nChalkeia, festival, 89\nCharon, 116\nChild, birth of, in art, 61\nChresmologoi, the, 127\nChristianity, swept away the great gods, 16; Greek religion and, 20, 31, 73, 75, 76, 100\nChristmas, resemblance to Anthesteria, 34\nCircle, magic, 28\nCities, 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\nCitizenship, proof of, 67, 82 Cleisthenes, 82\nClement of Alexandria, 43, 50; quoted, 45\nClimatic conditions, and crops, 6, 51\nClouds, The, 136\nComedy, origin of, 36\nCorn, as wealth, 51; in Eleusinian rites, 55\nCorn deities, 24, 51, 52; see also Demeter; Kore\nCrafts and their deities, 87-90\nCritias, 135\nCrops, relation to climate, 51; see also Agriculture\nCult places, see Sanctuaries\nCumont, F., 119\nCurses on leaden tablets, 114\nDaemons, nature, 10 ff.\nDanaids, the, 116\nDays, The, 105 f.\nDead, 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\nDeath, ideas evoked by Eleusinian Mysteries, 59, 63\nDeisidaimonia, 110\nDelphic oracle, 20, 23, 57, 123, 128, 130, 133, 136; attitude toward legalism and mysticism, 106-108; popularity based on ability to foretell future, 124\nDemeter, 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\nDemocritus, quoted, 118\nDescent of Kore, festival, 52; see also Kore\nDiagoras, 122\nDieterich, A., 119\nDionysus, 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\nDiopeithes, 133; trials initiated by, 134, 137\nDisease, healers of, 20, 93 f., 95; superstitions relating to, 111 ff.\nD\u00f6rpfeld, W., 79\nDrama, origin in rural customs, 36\nDreams, belief in, 124, 125, 136\nEarthquakes, 11\nEiresione, 29, 36, 39; see also May bough\nEleusinian 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\nEleusis, 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\nEmpedocles, 99\nEncirclement, magical rite, 28\nEnodia, name for Hecate, 91\nEpidaurus, sanctuary at, 86, 93, 94, 113\nEpilepsy, 111 f.\nErgane, 89; see also Athena\nErichthonios, 61\nEumolpidae, family of the, 43, 46, 81\nEurope, northern: similarities between beliefs and customs of Greece and, 12, 13, 26, 29, 37, 41, 71\nEuthymus, 18\nEvans, Sir Arthur, 71\nEvil, averters of, 78 ff.\nFairs at panegyreis, 100\nFamilies, cults under care of, 46, 81\nFamily, the model and basis of state organization, 75\nFarnell, L. R., 20\nFather, epithet of Zeus, 70, 77\nFemale, see Women\nFertility, festivals and magic, 25, 26, 27, 29, 33, 34, 36, 49\nFestivals, 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\nFirst fruits, offering of, 27 ff.\nFleece, 7\nFlowers, festival of, 33 f., 35; crown of, 40\nFolklore, connection with religion, 40, 72, 110\nForeigners and strangers, 58, 73, 77\nForeign gods brought into Greece, 90, 91 ff.\nForetelling of the future, 123 ff.; see also Oracles and Seers\nFrazer, Sir James, 3\nFruits, as food, 22, 32; festivals and offerings, 27 ff., 30, 36\nFurtw\u00e4ngler, A., 62\nFuture, foretelling of the, 123 ff.; see also Oracles and Seers\nGe, 62\nGenerations, eternity of life through, 60, 63\nGenetyllis, 96\nGhosts, heroes as, 18, 112; lamia and other specters, 91; goddess of, 111; see also Heroes\nGods, see Great gods; also under name, e.g., Apollo; Demeter\nGolden Fleece, 7\nGorgias, 99\nGospel of St. John, excerpt, 59\nGreat gods, outlived by minor deities, 16, 18, 21, 41; religion in cities, 85 ff.; as state gods became remote from men, 87, 121\nHarvest festivals, 26 ff.\nHealers of disease, 20, 93 f., 95, 112, 113\nHearth, sanctity of, 72 f., 75 ff.; role in public cult, 75\nHecate, 80, III, 112, 115; origin, cult, 90 f.; devotion of women to, 97\nHell, beliefs concerning, 118-20\nHeracles, 60, 78; difference between Theseus and, 57\nHeraclitus, 135\nHerkeios, epithet of Zeus, 66-67, 78, 82, 83\nHermes, 8, 91 10, 21, 53, 61, 62, 115\nHerms, 8, 9, 18; trials for smashing of, 94, 122\nHerodotus 72, 73, 81, 85, 109; biography of Homer attributed to, 37i 88; oracles and presages related by, 124, 128, 129\nHeroes, 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\nHesiod, 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.\nHestia, 72, 73, 76; position and importance of, 75\nHierocles, 133\nHieron, skyphos by, 56 n\nHippocrates, De morbo sacro, 111 f., 113\nHoly disease, 111 f.\nHomer, 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\nHomeric Hymn to Demeter, 51, 56, 90; references to the Eleusinian cult, 43, 45, 58; myth of the rape of Demeter's daughter, 48, 49\nHomeric Hymn to Hermes, 9, 10, 65\nHouses, described, 65 f.; hearth, 72\nHrozn\u00fd, B., 79\nHunting, goddess of, 15\nHybris, conception of, 108 f.\nHyperborean virgins, 38\nIcarius, 33\nImmortality, beliefs concerning, 60, 63, 64, 116\nImpiety, trials for, 94, 122, 133, 137\nImprecations on leaden tablets, 114 f.\nInitiation rites, Eleusinian, 45, 49\nIsocrates, 56\nIsthmia, games, 98\nJupiter, 70; see also Zeus\nJustice, problem of, 77, 108 f.; retributive, 117\nKalamaia, festival, 26\nKallias, cited, 56\nKarneia, festival, 35; armistice during, 99\nKataibates, epithet of Zeus, 67\nKatharmoi, 99\nKephisodotos, statue of \"Peace\" by, 61, 62\nKernos, 31\nKipling, Rudyard, quoted, 71\nKnights, The, 132\nKolias, 96\nKollyba, 31\nKore, 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\nKotyto, 93\nKtesios, epithet of Zeus, 67-69, 78\nLakrateides, 48\nLamia, 91\nLang, Andrew, 3\nLaurel branch, 39\nLeagues for protection of sanctuaries, 98\nLegalism, 103 ff.\nLife, ideas of, evoked by Eleusinian Mysteries, 59, 63\nLightning, god of, 67\nLoaf offered as first fruit, 27, 28\nLovatelli, Countess, 49\nLunar month, 106\nLying in the mud, 116, 118, 120\nLysimachides, relief by, 46\nMagic, 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\nMagna Mater, see Great Mother\nMarathonian tetrapolis, calendar, 19\nMasks, votive, 16\nMasses, fate of religion determined by, 4\nMater dolorosa, Greek (Demeter), 54\nMaximus of Tyre, 23\nMay bough, 29, 36; customs, 37, 39 f.; symbolism, 38\nMeals, sanctity of, 73 f.\nMeat, 22\nMegaron, described, 66; hearth, 72\nMeilichios, epithet of Zeus, 69-70\nMelanaigis, epithet of Dionysus, 36\nMenander, 68\nMiraculous healings, 95\nModern and ancient customs, 23, 26, 37, 38, 41, 71, 72, 100, 110\nModern research, 3 ff.\nMoirai, the, 14\nMonsters, 91\nMorality associated with agriculture, 58, 63\nMostellaria, 113\nMud, lying in the, 116, 118, 120\nMystic and ecstatic cults, 63, 95, 97, 103, 108; see also Eleusinian Mysteries\nNatural philosophy, clash with religion, 134-38\nNemea, games, 98\nNemesis, conception of, 108 f.\nOlives, 32\nOlympia, sanctuary at, 86, 98, 99\nOmens, belief in, 123 ff.; see also Oracles\nOnomacritus, 128\nOracles 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.\nOrgeones, 82\nOrphism, 103, 116, 117, 119, 128\nOschophoria, festival, 25, 34, 35\nOtto, W. F., 4\nPanagia Euangelistria, 95\nPanegyreis, 97-101; religious significance, 97, 100; sanctuaries, 98; importance, national and cultural, 99\nPanegyricus, 56\nPasios, epithet of Zeus, 67\nPastoral life and religion, 5-21, 22-41\nPeace, The, 92\nPeasants, customs and religion, 5 ff., 22 ff.\nPersephone, 47, 48, 53, 61; varying forms of name, 53; two aspects referring to life and to death, 53; see also Kore\nPeterich, E., 4\nPhallus, 36\nPherephatta, 53\nPhilologists, research by, 3\nPhoenix of Colophon, 38\nPhratries, 82\nPiety, expression of, by Greeks and moderns, 73, 76\nPitza, cave at, 14\nPlato, religious importance, 4; attitude toward magic and magicians, 113 f.; influence of accounts of the other world, 119; Republic, 118\nPlautus, Mostellaria, 113\nPlouton, 47, 48, 51, 52, 61, 62; myth of the rape of Demeter's daughter by, 48 ff.\nPlutarch, 36, 42, 97, 126, 131, 134 Politics, see State\nPolycrates, 109\nPolygnotus, picture at Delphi by, 116, 117\nPompeian frescoes, 17\nPoseidon, 11, 18, 21, 81, 88, 112\nPotters and their deities, 87-90\nPoverty and social distress, age of, 84, 102\nPrayer, in words and in acts, 73\nPresages, belief in, 123 ff.; see also Oracles and Seers\nProdicus, 135\nProfane and sacred intermingled, 40, 76, 100\nPrudentius, 60\nPsychosabbaton, the, 31\nPunishment in the other world, 114-20\nPurification a complement of legalism, 104\nPurificatory rites, 27 f.\nPythia, games, 98\nRelics, of saints and heroes, 20\nReligion, 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\nRepublic, 118\nRetributive justice, 117\nRitualism, 105, 107; see also Legalism\nRivers, gods and spirits, 10 f.\nRohde, Erwin, 103\nRural, life and religion, 5-21; sanctuaries, 14, 18, 81, 86; customs and festivals, 22-41\nRustic Dionysia, 36\nSabazios, a form of Dionysus, 93, 96, 110, 121\nSacred and profane intermingled, 40, 76, 100\nSacrifice, animal, 87; meaning and origin, 74 f.\nSaints, similarity of heroes to, 20\nSalaminioi, inscription of, 19\nSanctity, inherent in the place, 76\nSanctuaries, rustic, 14, 18, 81, 86; the temples, 46, 80, 81, 85f., 87; of panegyreis, 98\nSecular and sacred intermingled, 40, 76, 100\nSeers and oracles, 123-38; see also Oracles and Seers\nSeven Sages, 108\nSexual symbols in Eleusinian Mysteries, 44\nShrines, see Sanctuaries\nSibylline Books, 129\nSickness, healers of, 20, 93 f., 95; superstitions relating to, 111 ff.\nSkirophoria, festival, 25\nSlaves admitted to Eleusinian Mysteries, 58\nSmith, W. Robertson, 74\nSnake, 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\nSocial aspect of religion, 80 ff., 101 Social distress and poverty, 84, 102 Social justice, problem of, 77, 108 f.\nSocrates, 136; so-called prison of, 14; trial, 122, 137\nSophists, 99; attacks against religion, 94, 122, 133, 135 f.; views of, confused with natural philosophy, 136\nSophocles, 58, 66, 88; made a hero under name of Dexion, 94; religious beliefs, 135\nSorcery, see Witchcraft and sorcery\nSoter, epithet of Zeus, 70\nSoul, the, 116\nSpecters, 91; see also Ghosts\nState and religion, 80, 86, 123, 137; role of oracles, 127 ff.\nStone heaps, 8; see also Herms\nStones, cult of, 79 f.\nStrabo, on ancient landscape, 17 f.\nStrangers and foreigners, 58, 73, 77\nSuperstition, defined, fro; distinguished from religion, 110 f.; amount of, beliefs, 111 ff.\nSuppliants, 77\nSwinging festival, 33\nTabellae defixionis, 114 f.\nTelemachos of Acharnae, 94\nTemples, 80, 81; rustic sanctuaries, 14, 18, 81, 86; Mycenaean mystery hall, 46; the great temples, 85 f., 87\nThallophoroi on Parthenon frieze, 40\nThalysia, festival, 24, 26 f., 29, 30\nThargelia, festival, 27 f., 29, 37\nTheocritus, 26\nTheogony, 90\nTheology, 4\nThesmophoria, festival, 24-26, 32; links with Eleusinian Mysteries, 42, 44, 46, 49\nThetis, 14\nThucydides, 65; attitude toward oracles, 130, 131\nThucydides, statesman, 134\nTisamenus, 127\nTomb cult, 115\nTowns, see Cities\nTragedy, origin of, 36\nTrials for impiety, 94, 122, 133, 137\nTriptolemos, 47, 55 f., 57, 60, 61\nTruces during festivals, 99\nUnderworld, beliefs concerning, 9, 59, 64, 115-20\nValmin, M. N., 66 n\nVegetation, deities, 35, 50; connection of Kore myth with, 50; cycle represented by Adonis, 96; see also Agriculture\nVesta, 72; see also Hestia\nViticulture, 32; festivals, 32 ff.\nVotive masks, 16\nWar, heroes helpful in, 19; part played by oracles and seers, 125, 130\nWater, deities, 10 f., 12, 14 Wayfarers, 8\nWealth, god of, 51, 61; corn as, 51\nWilamowitz-Moellendorff, U. von, 3\nWine, festivals, 32 ff.; god of, 35\nWitchcraft and sorcery, 78, 80, 111, 114, 115; goddess of, 90, 91, 97, 111\nWomen, religion of, 14, 15, 95-97; festivals of Demeter celebrated by, 25; subordinate position of, 96\nWorks and Days, 104\nWriters, expression of religious thought, 3 f.\nXenophanes, 135\nXenophon, 79, 110; belief in oracles and presages, 123 f., 126, 127\nZeus, 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\nZeus Akraios, 7\nZeus Herkeios, 66-67, 78, 82, 83\nZeus Kataibates, 67\nZeus Lykaios, 6\nZeus Maimaktes, 7\nZeus Melosios, 7\nZeus Panhellenios, 7\nZeus Soter, 70","title":"Greek Popular Religion: Index","type":"page"}