The (Ancient Greek) Subject Supposed to Believe

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" The (Ancient Greek) Subject Supposed to Believe "
Esther Eidinow

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1079265
Doc. No	:	LA122894
Call No	:	‭10.1163/15685276-12341525‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Esther Eidinow
Title & Author	:	The (Ancient Greek) Subject Supposed to Believe [Article]\ Esther Eidinow
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Numen
Date	:	2019
Volume/ Issue Number	:	66/1
Page No	:	56–88
Abstract	:	This article discusses the challenges facing scholars exploring the nature of belief in ancient Greek religion. While recent scholarship has raised questions about individual religious activities, and work on ritual, the body, and the senses has broadened our methodological palette, the nature and dynamics of generally held “low intensity” beliefs still tend to be described simply as “unquestioned” or “embedded” in society. But examining scholarship on divine personifications suggests that ancient beliefs were — and our perceptions of them are — more complex. This article first explores the example of Tyche (“Chance”), in order to highlight some of the problems that surround the use of the term “belief.” It then turns to the theories of “ideology” of Slavoj Žižek and Robert Pfaller and argues that these can offer provocative insights into the nature and dynamics of ritual and belief in ancient Greek culture. This article discusses the challenges facing scholars exploring the nature of belief in ancient Greek religion. While recent scholarship has raised questions about individual religious activities, and work on ritual, the body, and the senses has broadened our methodological palette, the nature and dynamics of generally held “low intensity” beliefs still tend to be described simply as “unquestioned” or “embedded” in society. But examining scholarship on divine personifications suggests that ancient beliefs were — and our perceptions of them are — more complex. This article first explores the example of Tyche (“Chance”), in order to highlight some of the problems that surround the use of the term “belief.” It then turns to the theories of “ideology” of Slavoj Žižek and Robert Pfaller and argues that these can offer provocative insights into the nature and dynamics of ritual and belief in ancient Greek culture.
Descriptor	:	ancient Greek religion
Descriptor	:	belief
Descriptor	:	ideology
Descriptor	:	Pfaller
Descriptor	:	ritual
Descriptor	:	Tyche
Descriptor	:	Žižek
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/15685276-12341525‬