The Daily Life of the Greek Gods
Despite the rousing stories of male heroism in battles, the Trojan War transcended the activities of its human participants. For Homer, it was the gods who conducted and accounted for what happened. In the first part of this book, the authors find in Homer's Iliad material for exploring the everyday life of the Greek gods: what their bodies were made of and how they were nourished, the organization of their society, and the sort of life they led both in Olympus and in the human world. The gods are divided in their human nature: at once a fantasized model of infinite joys and an edifying example of engagement in the world, they have loves, festivities, and quarrels.

In the second part, the authors show how citizens carried on everyday relations with the gods and those who would become the Olympians, inviting them to reside with humans organized in cities. At the heart of rituals and of social life, the gods were omnipresent: in sacrifices, at meals, in political assemblies, in war, in sexuality. In brief, the authors show how the gods were indispensable to the everyday social organization of Greek cities.

To set on stage a number of gods implicated in the world of human beings, the authors give precedence to the feminine over the masculine, choosing to show how such great powers as Hera and Athena wielded their sovereignty over cities, reigning over not only the activities of women but also the moulding of future citizens. Equally important, the authors turn to Dionysus and follow the evolution of one of his forms, that of the phallus paraded in processions. Under this god, so attentive to all things feminine, the authors explore the typically civic ways of thinking about the relations between natural fecundity and the sexuality of daily life.

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The Daily Life of the Greek Gods
Despite the rousing stories of male heroism in battles, the Trojan War transcended the activities of its human participants. For Homer, it was the gods who conducted and accounted for what happened. In the first part of this book, the authors find in Homer's Iliad material for exploring the everyday life of the Greek gods: what their bodies were made of and how they were nourished, the organization of their society, and the sort of life they led both in Olympus and in the human world. The gods are divided in their human nature: at once a fantasized model of infinite joys and an edifying example of engagement in the world, they have loves, festivities, and quarrels.

In the second part, the authors show how citizens carried on everyday relations with the gods and those who would become the Olympians, inviting them to reside with humans organized in cities. At the heart of rituals and of social life, the gods were omnipresent: in sacrifices, at meals, in political assemblies, in war, in sexuality. In brief, the authors show how the gods were indispensable to the everyday social organization of Greek cities.

To set on stage a number of gods implicated in the world of human beings, the authors give precedence to the feminine over the masculine, choosing to show how such great powers as Hera and Athena wielded their sovereignty over cities, reigning over not only the activities of women but also the moulding of future citizens. Equally important, the authors turn to Dionysus and follow the evolution of one of his forms, that of the phallus paraded in processions. Under this god, so attentive to all things feminine, the authors explore the typically civic ways of thinking about the relations between natural fecundity and the sexuality of daily life.

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The Daily Life of the Greek Gods

The Daily Life of the Greek Gods

The Daily Life of the Greek Gods

The Daily Life of the Greek Gods

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Overview

Despite the rousing stories of male heroism in battles, the Trojan War transcended the activities of its human participants. For Homer, it was the gods who conducted and accounted for what happened. In the first part of this book, the authors find in Homer's Iliad material for exploring the everyday life of the Greek gods: what their bodies were made of and how they were nourished, the organization of their society, and the sort of life they led both in Olympus and in the human world. The gods are divided in their human nature: at once a fantasized model of infinite joys and an edifying example of engagement in the world, they have loves, festivities, and quarrels.

In the second part, the authors show how citizens carried on everyday relations with the gods and those who would become the Olympians, inviting them to reside with humans organized in cities. At the heart of rituals and of social life, the gods were omnipresent: in sacrifices, at meals, in political assemblies, in war, in sexuality. In brief, the authors show how the gods were indispensable to the everyday social organization of Greek cities.

To set on stage a number of gods implicated in the world of human beings, the authors give precedence to the feminine over the masculine, choosing to show how such great powers as Hera and Athena wielded their sovereignty over cities, reigning over not only the activities of women but also the moulding of future citizens. Equally important, the authors turn to Dionysus and follow the evolution of one of his forms, that of the phallus paraded in processions. Under this god, so attentive to all things feminine, the authors explore the typically civic ways of thinking about the relations between natural fecundity and the sexuality of daily life.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780804736138
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication date: 04/01/2000
Series: Mestizo Spaces / Espaces Métissés
Edition description: 1
Pages: 312
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author


Janet Lloyd has translated more than seventy books from the French by authors such as Jean-Pierre Vernant, Marcel Detienne, and Philippe Descola.

Table of Contents

Map of the Greek Aegean Worldxii
Genealogiesxiii
Introduction1
Part IHomer as an Anthropologist
1.Literature? Or Anthropology?13
The World of the Iliad15
Detailed Time19
The Structures and Invention of Everydayness24
A Scratch and a Glimpsed World26
2.The Gods: A Particular Nature, A Particular Society28
Immortal Blood in Context29
Hera and the Ribbon of Aphrodite33
Desire and Aphrodite36
Women, Whether Divine or Mortal38
Gods in Subjection40
3.Spending the Time43
The Deities of Time43
Enjoyment and Cares47
Zeus and Hera in Action51
Anxieties and Dangers53
4.Gods with a Particular Lifestyle58
The Reactions of the Gods60
Metamorphoses and Punishments65
5.Savoring the Sweetness of Life68
Appetizing Aromas69
The Sacrificial Relationship72
The Gods' Share74
Nectar and Ambrosia77
A Taste for Happiness80
The Philosophers' Critique81
The Sweetness of Life84
Comic Life85
Business Dinners87
6.Divine Interference90
The Gods' Power over Men92
Really Responsible Gods?95
7.Scenes of Sovereignty99
Zeus Commits Himself102
The Scrutiny of Hera105
Zeus's Lie106
And Agamemnon's109
Hera and Poseidon111
A Power of Which Many a Tale Is Told116
8.The Gods and Their Days119
Genesis: Daily Toil?122
Genesis: Work Worthy of a God?126
The Life of the Gods and the Life of Men128
Part II.The Gods at the Service of the City
9.When the Olympians Donned the Citizen's Costume137
Choosing a City140
Making a Territory, Creating Gods for Each City145
Forms, Skills, and Abilities147
10.A Polytheistic Garden151
Hunting for Structures156
Configurations of Gods, Hierarchies of Power160
11.Dealings with the Gods166
"Believing in the Gods": A Social Practice169
Political Rights: Meat and Sacrifices172
The Presence of the Gods176
12.The Altars and Territories That Were Home to the Divine Powers179
From Altar to City183
The Uniqueness of Greek Temples188
Questions of Territory192
13.The Affairs of the Gods and the Affairs of Men195
Gods at the Heart of Politics199
Gods Dominated by Men?203
14.The Power of Women: Hera, Athena, and Their Followers208
Athena the Misogynist210
Praxithea: An Anti-Clytemnestra215
Foundress and Motherland219
A Woman in Charge of Ephebes222
A Tour of the Sanctuaries226
15.A Phallus for Dionysus230
The Epiphany of the Phallus233
Beyond Eroticism: The Heart and the Virile Member237
Notes245
Translator's Note283
Index285
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