Summary exemplar essays for Classical Civilisation: Greek Religion
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Course
Greek Religion
Institution
OCR
Completely written out or completely planned out essays to the following 30 marker essay titles:
‘Greek religion was more personal than Panhellenic.’ To what extent do you agree? (30 marks)
‘A Greek, reading Homer or Hesiod, could hope for his gods to be fair arbiters of justice’. To wh...
‘Greek religion was more personal than Panhellenic.’ To what
extent do you agree?
Intro: was more personal than Panhellenic – Panhellenic = people from all over
Greece, sites eg Olympia, Delphi where people came to worship.
Many aspects of religion were for personal benefit - oracle consultation, and
revelation at the Eleusinian mysteries.
Panhellenic was less common- not everyone could afford to travel to these sites,
and the oracles were often for personal benefit anyway.
Para 1: Panhellenic- healing cults and mystery cults.
many people would visit, especially during times of plague.
Took away from personal experience a bit
Eg Cult of Asclepius – many people experiencing the same
thing, lots of people eg doctors involved in healing process, in
the sanctuary- many people would sleep in the same room which
meant the experience was no personal or something
experienced in an isolated way.
anatomical votive relief from the sanctuary of Asclepius at Melos - evidence
of widespread and enduring popularity of the cult, which means there were
many people doing the sam thing, making it more Panhellenic. People would
travel from all over Greece on pilgrimages – so spiritual journey was not personal
either, as many people were doing the same thing.
Eleusinian mysteries were Panhellenic because mostly anyone could join and
one initiation could include 3000 people. The festivities were communal.
CA: The benefits of participating in a healing cult were to the individual
alone eg many thank you votives and inscriptions testify to the personal
interaction people believed they had with the god, Incubation process
was solitary- people slept in sanctuary
Secretive nature of the mystery cults- mysteries eg Eleusinian mysteries
personally benefitted you, your own experience and you had to go
through enlightenment alone
Judgment: healing cults more Panhellenic, although the benefit was
personal.
Para 2:
Judgement:
Para 3: Oracles- could be both Panhellenic and personal, depends on who’s
asking and what oracle.
Oracles were more personal because most people who went to see
oracles were asking questions personal to them- individual
interactions with the gods,
Oracle at Dodona was more personal- Herodotus tells us that the
consultation involved listening to rustling leaves and birds, which was
a private experience.
The most commonly asked question was which god to worship,
which wife to take, would it be better to travel by land or sea- all
personal, private questions that only benefited the asker.
, Eg tablet found at Dodona is by a slave asking if he should run
away.
CA:
The answers were yes/no and not very specific personalised.
The consultation was not with the god themselves, but rather with
a priestess, who spoke through the god; so not very personal, the
individual might not feel personal connection.
The oracle at Delphi was much more Panhellenic- people would
travel from all over Greece to visit the Pythia, the types of questions
were from city states serving a political purpose- Use of the Delphic
Oracle by public figures to ask for advice on affairs of the state.
Oracles also served state purposes and were consulted about public business,
especially Delphi Eg Oedipus consulted the Delphic oracle; Croesus too. Athens
asked the Pythia how they should defend their city against the
Persians. So, questions were serving a wider, more Panhellenic
community.
Judgement: both.
Para 4: personal level worship and sacrifice, personal household religion=
personal.
Eg religion was deeply connected with major life events, personal to each
individual in each household. Eg marriage, births, death
libations were lured to mark even small events such as the end of a journey,
religious rituals (Child's first hair, man's first beard, girls hair before marriage/at
puberty- Hair regularly dedicated before marriage to Hera, Artemis and the
Fates: Fragment of marble votive relief- stone box sculptured with two long plaits
of hair, dedicated to Poseidon),
CA:
Judgement:
Conclusion: can definitely be seen as both personal and Panhellenic, but
possibly more Panhellenic, when you look at the types of questions the Pythia at
Delphi received, and the widespread worship of the gods.
‘A Greek, reading Homer or Hesiod, could hope for his gods to be fair
arbiters of justice’. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Use primary as well as secondary sources to support your argument.
I disagree with this statement to an extent. Whilst there are many examples of
the gods delivering justice or acting morally to help mortals- such as Athene’s
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