The analysis of the dynamic nature of rituals has become a heuristic tool for the investigation not only of religious behaviour and beliefs, but also for the study of social practice and communication in ancient and modern societies. From public assembly gatherings and funerals to celebration of cult feasts or the honouring of individuals, rituals mark socially important occasions, define beginnings and endings, and aid social transitions. Thus, rituals carry all kinds of messages intended to support and express the performance of those involved, and to create the desired results. The present volume brings together a collection of articles on rituals in the Graeco-Roman world, focussing on the interconnection between ritual as a means of communication and communication as a ritual phenomenon. In regarding rituals as an interface in the realm of cultural practices, the contributors demonstrate the manifold function of ritual communication in the life of ancient communities.
Table of contents
E. STAVRIANOPOULOU, Introduction W. BURKERT, Ritual between Ethology and Post-modern Aspects: Philological-historical Notes F. G. NAEREBOUT, Moving Events. Dance at Public Events in the Ancient Greek World: Thinking Through its Implications J. MYLONOPOULOS, Greek Sanctuaries as Places of Communication through Rituals: An Archaeological Perspective V. PIRENNE-DELFORGE, Ritual Dynamics in Pausanias: the Laphria E. STAVRIANOPOULOU, Normative Interventions in Greek Rituals: Strategies for Justification and Legitimation I. & A. PETROVIC, «Look who is talking now!»: Speaker and Communication in Greek Metrical Sacred Regulations I. BERTI, «Now let Earth be my witness and the broad heaven above, and the down flowing water of the Styx…» (Homer, Ilias XV, 36-37): Greek Oath-Rituals A. CHANIOTIS, Rituals between Norms and Emotions: Rituals as Shared Experience and Memory P. KATÓ, The Funeral of Philopoimen in the Historiographical Tradition M. SKOUNTAKIS, Ritual Criticism and Consolation A. B. KUHN, Ritual Changes during the Reign of Demetrios Poliorcetes S. HOTZ, Ritual Traditions in the Discourse of the Imperial Period T. KRUSE, The Magistrate and the Ocean: Acclamations and Ritualised Communication in Town Gatherings in Roman Egypt H. S. VERSNEL, Ritual Dynamics: The Contribution of Analogy, Simile and Free AssociationWith the funding of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre, Dynamics of Ritual, at the University of Heidelberg
