The Cosmos in Ancient Greek Religious Experience
Sacred Space, Memory, and Cognition

Reconstructs ancient rituals in their day/night/season combining them with relevant mythology and astronomical observations to understand the ritual's cosmological links.

Efrosyni Boutsikas (Author)

9781108488174, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 October 2020

278 pages
25.9 x 18 x 1.8 cm, 0.77 kg

'An undoubtedly interesting book, well-researched and rich in new conceptions, that is to be recommended to all students and researchers in ancient Greek religion, architecture, and archaeoastronomy, as well as to anyone, non-expert, interested in these subjects.' Panagiota Markoulaki, Journal of Hellenic Religion

In this book, Efrosyni Boutsikas examines ancient Greek religious performances, intricately orchestrated displays comprising topography, architecture, space, cult, and myth. These various elements were unified in a way that integrated the body within cosmic space and made the sacred extraordinary. Boutsikas also explores how natural light or the night-sky may have assisted in intensifying the experience of these rituals, and how they may have determined ancient perceptions of the cosmos. The author's digital and virtual reconstructions of ancient skyscapes and religious structures during such occurrences unveil a deeper understanding of the importance of time and place in religious experience. Boutsikas shows how they shaped emotions, cosmological beliefs, and ritual memory of the participants. Her study revolutionises our understanding on ancient emotionality and cognitive experience, demonstrating how Greek religious spaces were vibrant arenas of a shared experience of the cosmos.

1. Introduction
2. Methodological Advances, Approaches, and Considerations
3. Worship in Space and Time
4. Astronomy and Perceptual Cognition in Apolline Cults
5. The Cosmos in Manifestations of Identity, Memory, and Remembrance
6. Cosmic Time in Greek Mystery Cults
7. Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Landscape archaeology [HDL], Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Archaeology [HD], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], European history [HBJD]