Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion

It has often been thought that participation in fertility rituals was womensmost important religious activity in classical Greece. Matthew Dillons wideranging s... » 

It has often been thought that participation in fertility rituals was womensmost important religious activity in classical Greece. Matthew Dillons wideranging study makes it clear that women engaged in numerous other rites andcults and that their role in Greek religion was actually more important thanthat of men.Women invoked the gods help in becoming pregnant venerated the god of wineworshipped new and exotic deities used magic for both erotic and painrelieving purposes and far more besides. While traditional scholarship hasseen such involvement in religion as escapist Dillons skillful presentationof the evidence proves that this denigrates womens religiosity and the realimportance they attached to their relationship with the divine.Clear coherent and comprehensive this volume challenges many stereotypes ofGreek women and offers unexpected insights into their experience of religion.With more than fifty illustrations and translated extracts from contemporarytexts this is an essential resource for the study of women and religion inclassical Greece. «