List of Figures x

Notes on Contributors xii

Acknowledgments xvii

Note on Authors and Translations xviii

Abbreviations xix

Ancient Author Fragment Series xxi

Introduction 1

Daniel Ogden

Part I In the Background 19

1 Greek Religion and the Ancient Near East 21

Scott B. Noegel

Part II The Powers: The Gods and the Dead 39

2 Olympian Gods, Olympian Pantheon 41

Ken Dowden

3 A Land Full of Gods: Nature Deities in Greek Religion 56

Jennifer Larson

4 Personification in Greek Religious Thought and Practice
71

Emma Stafford

5 The Dead 86

D. Felton

6 Heroes and Hero-Cults 100

Gunnel Ekroth

Part III Communicating with the Divine 115

7 Prayers and Hymns 117

William D. Furley

8 Greek Normative Animal Sacrifice 132

Jan N. Bremmer

9 Divination 145

Pierre Bonnechere

Part IV From Sacred Space to Sacred Time 161

10 A Day in the Life of a Greek Sanctuary 163

Beate Dignas

11 Purity and Pollution 178

Andreas Bendlin

12 Festivals 190

Scott Scullion

13 Time and Greek Religion 204

James Davidson

Part V Local Religious Systems 219

14 ''Famous Athens, Divine Polis'': The
Religious System at Athens 221

Susan Deacy

15 The Religious System at Sparta 236

Nicolas Richer

16 The Religious System at Alexandria 253

Francoise Dunand

17 The Religious System in Arcadia 264

Madeleine Jost

Part VI Social Organization, the Family, and Sex 281

18 Religion and Society in Classical Greece 283

Charles W. Hedrick Jr.

19 Women, Religion, and the Home 297

Janett Morgan

20 ''Something to do with Aphrodite'':
Ta Aphrodisia and the Sacred 311

Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge

Part VII Mysteries and Magic 325

21 Finding Dionysus 327

Susan Guettel Cole

22 The Mysteries of Demeter and Kore 342

Kevin Clinton

23 Magic in Classical and Hellenistic Greece 357

Matthew W. Dickie

Part VIII Intersections: Greek Religion and . . . 371

24 Greek Religion and Literature 373

Thomas Harrison

25 Greek Religion and Philosophy: The God of the Philosopher
385

Fritz-Gregor Herrmann

26 Greek Religion and Art 398

T.H. Carpenter

Part IX Epilogue 421

27 Gods of the Silver Screen: Cinematic Representations of Myth
and Divinity 423

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Bibliography 439

Index 477

"The organization of this useful volume invites dipping into rather than a linear perusal. The contributors ... manage to be both informative and fair in their presentation of controversial issues, and blessedly jargon free." (Religious Studies Review, December 2009)

"This collection of essays is a welcome addition to the existing books on Greek religion. Both advanced students and scholars will find it a useful introduction to the state of research on the subject." (Acta Classica, 2009)

"A splendid book at a not unreasonable price." (Reference Reviews, 2008)

"Modestly aiming to offer a mere impression of such a vast field, and eschewing any specific intellectual agenda, Daniel Ogden has done an excellent job both in defining major topics for discussion and in commissioning a varied list of contributors, senior and junior, European and North American, classicists, archaeologists, and historians of religion. ... Ogden has done in excellent job." (Greece and Rome, 2008)

"The Companion to Greek Religion is overall an excellent package of the best and most interesting research in Greek religion." (Scholia Reviews, 2008)

"Blackwell Companions have well-established reference potential defined by the breadth of scholarly perspectives presented. This volume offers ... well-documented narrations, along with cross-referencing between them." (CHOICE)

"Covers all aspects of religion in the ancient Greek world. ... Each of the volume's essays is written by an international expert." (Wordtrade.com)

"Blackwell maintains the high standard of its Companion series with these twenty seven essays. ... All in all, [there is] much excellent material here." (Journal of Classics Teaching)

Daniel Ogden is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Exeter. He is author of Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds (2002), Greek and Roman Necromancy (2001), and Greek Bastardy (1996), and editor of The Hellenistic World: New Perspectives (2002).

D. Ogden, University of Exeter, UK