How to Write a Local History of Imperial Greek Cults: Observations from Pausanias

doi:10.1017/9781009301862.013

12 - How to Write a Local History of Imperial Greek Cults: Observations from Pausanias

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2023

Greta Hawes

Edited by

Hans Beck and

Julia Kindt

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Hans Beck: Affiliation:
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany
Julia Kindt: Affiliation:
University of Sydney

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Summary

This chapter alerts readers of the shortcomings of a mining approach to Pausanias’ Periegesis as a prime evidence for the study of local religion in ancient Greece. The question of where local specificities are discussed in the narrative is as critical as the actual information conveyed. The chapter speaks to the analytical challenge of interpreting a narrative that is, on the one hand, reflective of the non-linear and essentially decentralised nature of the local, yet on the other filters this nature through the linear rigours of writing. Starting from fleeting experiences of the local, highly subjective to the individual that makes them, Hawes turns to an exemplary discussion of Argos, Thebes, and Messenia that exposes the mechanics of a scripted localism, a literary approximation to place. The discussion of Pausanias’ localistic perspective extends to the narrative technique of cross references and to instances where such connections were deliberately denied: the case in point being Pausanias’ treatment of the notorious problem of the location of Homeric Pylos.

Keywords

Pausanias Literary Studies narratology Argos Thebes Messenia Pylos

Type: Chapter
Information: The Local Horizon of Ancient Greek Religion , pp. 342 - 361

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009301862.013 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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12 - How to Write a Local History of Imperial Greek Cults: Observations from Pausanias

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