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Social and Psychological Interpretations of Graeco-Roman Religion: Some Thoughts on the Ideal Benefactor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2015

T.R. Stevenson
T.R. Stevenson*
Affiliation:
The University of Auckland
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Extract

In the past couple of decades, scholarship on Graeco–Roman religion has been dominated by an approach which emphasises the social function of religion rather than matters relating to emotion and belief (Part I below). There is much in the new approach which is enlightening, but for various reasons it should not be allowed to supersede the traditional or psychological approach completely (II). In particular I would like to argue in this paper that the phenomenon of cult for mortals in the Graeco-Roman world can only be understood through a combination of the two modern approaches, because the figure of the ideal benefactor, which I take to underlie cult for mortals, presumed both a concern for relationship structuring and an emotional response. Indeed, the ambiguous interface between the social plane and the psychological plane was fundamental to the success and persistence of such cult (III).

Type
Research Article
Information
Antichthon , Volume 30 , November 1996 , pp. 1 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © Australasian Society for Classical Studies 1996

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References

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