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Polis Religion – a Critical Appreciation

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Polis Religion – a Critical Appreciation Kernos Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique 22 | 2009 Varia Polis Religion – A Critical Appreciation Julia Kindt Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/1765 DOI: 10.4000/kernos.1765 ISSN: 2034-7871 Publisher Centre international d'étude de la religion grecque antique Printed version Date of publication: 1 January 2009 Number of pages: 9-34 ISSN: 0776-3824 Electronic reference Julia Kindt, « Polis Religion – A Critical Appreciation », Kernos [Online], 22 | 2009, Online since 26 October 2012, connection on 10 December 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/1765 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/kernos.1765 Kernos Kernos22(2009), p. 9-34. PolisReligion–ACritical Appreciation Abstract: This artic e exp ores the scope and imits of the mode of Vpo is re igionW as one of the most powerfu interpretatiEe concepts in current scho arship in the fie d. It examines the notion of the YembeddednessF of ancient GreeL re igion in the po is as we as the unity anddiEersity of GreeL re igious be iefs andpractices, anddiscusses in how far the mode is ab e to capture deEe opments beyond the C assica period. The artic e ooLs at re igious phenomena andforms of re igious organi5ation aboEe andbe ow the po is eEe . I argue that the strengths of the mode ie in its capacity to exp ain an important structuring princip e of ancient GreeL re igion. The weaLnesses of the mode are due to the fact that it is focused too narrow y on the po is as the primary discourse of power re eEant for the studyofancientGreeLre igion. ésumé: Cet artic e tudie F tendue et es imites du modè e de a polis religion dans a mesure oM i sFagit d’un des concepts interpr tatifs es p us forts de a recherche actue e dans e domaine. I sFagit de se pencher sur a notion d’embeddedness de a re igion grecDue ancienne H Fint rieur de a polis, de mNme Due sur Funit et a diEersit des croyances et pratiDues re igieuses des Grecs. On discutera ga ement de a pertinence du modè e pour appr hender es d Ee oppements Dui Eont au-de H de a p riode c assiDue. LFartic e prNte attention aux ph nom;nes re igieux et aux formes dForganisation re igieuse Dui exc;dent e niEeau de a cit . Je sugg;re Due a force de ce modè e r side dans sa capacit H exp iDuer un important principe de structuration de a re igion grecDue ancienne. La faib esse du modè e Eient du fait DuFi se concentre trop troitement sur a polis comme principa discours de pouEoir adapt àlF tudede are igiongrecDue ancienne. 2. .ntroduction In current scho arship, particu ar y in the Ang o-American and Francophone wor ds, Vpo is re igionW has become a powerfu interpretatiEe mode for the study of GreeL re igion.1 The mode is now sufficient y we estab ished for us to need to exp ore its imp ications as we as the a ternatiEes that comp ement or moEe beyond it. Surprising y, howeEer, and in contrast to scho arship on Roman re igion, the imp ications of the mode are rare y discussed in the study 1 Ear ier Eersions andaspects of this artic e were presentedat the annua convention of the American Philological Association (APA) in San Diego in 2007 and at a conference in honour of Christiane SourEinouInwoodat Reading .niversity in 2008. Iwou d iLe to thanL the audiences at both conferences as we as Robin Osborne, Richard Gordon, Jan 7remmer, and 7ruce Linco nandtheanonymousrefereesof 5ernos forcommentingonear ierdraftsofthisartic e. 10 J.KINDT of ancient GreeL re igion. There is no sing e account that direct y and compre- hensiEe y responds to SourEinou-InwoodFs two methodo ogica artic es on po is re igion – the most exp icit conceptua formu ation of the mode .2 This artic e offers a critica eEa uation of where we stand. It identifies Ley prob ems in the scho ar y use of the po is re igion mode and examines how indiEidua scho ars worLing with it haEe positioned their worL in regard to them. A distinct focus wi be on the way the mode is used in the ang ophone wor d (a though French scho ars, most notab y FranCois de Po ignacFs worL, are a so occasiona y brought into the picture).3 Rather than rejecting the mode outright, the artic e aims to moEe current debates forward by exp oring its scope and imits. It examines po is re igion in its different forms and formu a- tions and discusses the ways in which some scho ars haEe recent y sought to oEercome the Vpo is-orientationW imp icit in arge parts of the worL done in this fie d. 2. /hat is ,olis eligion0 Christiane SourEinou-Inwood coined the term Vpo is re igionW to describe the VembeddednessW of GreeL re igion in the po is as the basic unit of GreeL socia and po itica ife.4 Significant y, howeEer, her definition of po is re igion transcends the eEe of the indiEidua po is. Po is re igion operates on three eEe s of GreeL society: the po is, the Vwor d-of-the-po is system,W and the panhe enic dimension.5 The definition of GreeL re igion as po is re igion fo ows this tripartite structure of GreeL society and runs a ong the fo owing ines. During the Archaic and C assica periods, Greece was a cong omerate of arge y autonomous city-states with no oEera po itica or administratiEe 2 Whi e many worLs in the fie dare imp icit y basedon a characterisation of GreeL re igion as po is re igion, the strengths andweaLnesses of this mode are rare y discussed. Exceptions (which wi be discussedbe ow) are the contributions of COLE (1994), 7.RKERT (1995), JAMESON (1997). In the fie d of Roman re igion, however, the debate concerning the imp ications and the app icabi ity of the po is mode is much more adEanced: see WOOLF (1997), 7ENDLIN (2000), p.115135, R[PKE (2004), SC1EID (2005), p.125-128. Interesting y, there is no separate entry on Ypo isre igionFinrecentreference worLs,suchasPRICE&KEARNS(2003); JONES(2005). 3 The French scho ar y discourse attributes to the mediation of the city a more inc usive and constrictiEe ro e than the ang ophone iterature; in French scho arship Vpo is re igionW is not necessari y and not a ways synonymous with Vcivic re igionW or Vre igion of the po isW. 7y focusing on the arguab y more c ose y formu atedAng ophone mode , Ihope to cast ight on the strengths and weaLnesses of the mode in its most succinct formu ation. The ang ophone formu ations of Vpo is re igionW (andindirect y my discussion of them) are hence groundedin a certain historiographica mode of the city as a re ative y c osed and hori5onta y ayeredsocia systemembracingthe demos, phratries,etc.(moreonthisbe ow). 4SO.RVINO.INWOOD(2000a[1990_), SOURVINOUINWOOD(2000b[1988_). 5SeeSO.RVINO.INWOOD(2000a[1990_), p.13. Po isRe igion–ACritica Appreciation 11 structure. In the sphere of re igion the po is proEided the major context for re igious be iefs and practices. The reach of GreeL re igious cu ts and festiEa s with their pub ic processions and communa forms of sacrifice and prayer mapped onto the reach of po is institutions, such as the demes, the phratries and the gen:. At the same time, the re igious inEentories of the indiEidua city-states resemb ed each other because of their shared past and the spread of epic poetry throughout the GreeL wor d.6 In particu ar the poems of 1omer and 1esiod had unified and structured the GreeL pantheon. Re igion thus offered a common set of ideo ogies and Ea ues, such as shared notions of purity and po ution, sacred and profane, human and diEine, which were a reference point throughout the GreeL wor d. 1erodotus has the Athenians refer to the temp es of the gods and the sacrifices as part of a shared fee ing of GreeLness.7 GreeL re igious be iefs and practices proEided a strong inL between the indiEidua po is and the rest of the GreeL wor d. As the po is constituted the basic unit of GreeL ife, the panhe enic dimen- sion of GreeL re igion – the re igious institutions situated beyond the po is eEe , such as the arge panhe enic sanctuaries or amphictyonies and re igious eagues – was accessed through constant reference to the po is and its symbo ic order. WheneEer a de egation Eisited the orac e of Apo o at De phi, or an ath ete participated in the O ympic Games in honour of Zeus, they did so as members of a specific po is. SourEinou-Inwood thus conc udes that po is re igion embodies, negotiates, and informs a re igious discourse, inc uding re igious practices aboEe the eEe of the indiEidua po eis.8 In its genera formu ation, the mode of po is re igion ref ects DurLheimian and structura ist efforts to YmaLe senseF of GreeL re igion as a symbo ic system. In particu ar, the assumption of po is re igion as the foundation of a mora community (in the sense of a community sharing a common set of norms and conEentions) is DurLheimian in origin.
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