1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910811209203321

Autore

Cole Susan Guettel

Titolo

Landscapes, gender, and ritual space [[electronic resource] ] : the ancient Greek experience / / Susan Guettel Cole

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, Calif., : University of California Press, 2004

ISBN

0-520-92932-2

9786612356933

1-282-35693-3

1-59734-699-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (313 p.)

Disciplina

292.3/5

Soggetti

Women - Religious life - Greece - History

Sacred space - Greece - History

Artemis (Greek deity) - Cult

Greece Religion

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-265) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. Claiming a Homeland -- 2. Ritual Space -- 3. Inventing the Center -- 4. The Ritual Body -- 5. The Plague of Infertility -- 6. Landscapes of Artemis -- 7. Domesticating Artemis -- Glossary of Greek Terms -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The division of land and consolidation of territory that created the Greek polis also divided sacred from productive space, sharpened distinctions between purity and pollution, and created a ritual system premised on gender difference. Regional sanctuaries ameliorated competition between city-states, publicized the results of competitive rituals for males, and encouraged judicial alternatives to violence. Female ritual efforts, focused on reproduction and the health of the family, are less visible, but, as this provocative study shows, no less significant. Taking a fresh look at the epigraphical evidence for Greek ritual practice in the context of recent studies of landscape and political organization, Susan Guettel Cole illuminates the profoundly gendered nature of Greek cult practice and explains the connections between



female rituals and the integrity of the community. In a rich integration of ancient sources and current theory, Cole brings together the complex evidence for Greek ritual practice. She discusses relevant medical and philosophical theories about the female body; considers Greek ideas about purity, pollution, and ritual purification; and examines the cult of Artemis in detail. Her nuanced study demonstrates the social contribution of women's rituals to the sustenance of the polis and the identity of its people.