The ancient Greek year was underpinned by a series of festivals. These religious events were fundamental to the structure of Greek society: state festivals punctuated the year and citizens were required to participate; other cults were devoted to more private types of religion. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo looks at one of the great Athenian state festivals, the Panathenaia in honour of the city goddess Athena, and compares it with the mystery cult of Demeter, based at Eleusis.

Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

The ancient Greek year was underpinned by a series of festivals. These religious events were fundamental to the structure of Greek society: state festivals punctuated the year and citizens were required to participate; other cults were devoted to more private types of religion. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo looks at one of the great Athenian state festivals, the Panathenaia in honour of the city goddess Athena, and compares it with the mystery cult of Demeter, based at Eleusis. Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Religion and Festivals

This subject deals with the cultural history of the ancient Greek world through both textual sources and the material evidence of art and archaeology. The period covered runs from the Iron Age world of Archaic Greece through to the late Classical period (roughly from the 8th century to the 4th century BCE). We will concentrate mainly on Athens and mainland Greece, but we will also focus on the Greek expansion into other parts of the Mediterranean world (Sicily and South Italy) in the process of colonisation. Historical texts will be combined with literary sources and archaeology to explore the physical nature of ancient Greek cities and social issues such as the position of women, ethnicity, sexuality and slavery in the ancient Greek world.

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Religion and Festivals

Religion and Festivals

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