Student No. 927257

 

The role of religion in Pan-Hellenism in Classical Greece

 

 

The nature of the city state in Classical Greece means that any sense of Pan-Hellenism is difficult to find as every Hellene is first and foremost an Athenian or a Lacedaemonian or a Theban. However there are a number of common practices that unite the Greeks during the Classical period and religion is foremost among these. From before the start of the classical period in 776BC to beyond its end in 336BC religion was ‘enmeshed in every crevice’ (Easterling, Muir 1985: xx) of society. It is this shared religion more than anything else, perhaps even more so than the Greek language, which united the Greeks during the Classical period.

 

 Apart from war, the greatest concentration of Hellenes at any one event can be seen at the Pan-Hellenic festivals of the Olympic Games and the Dionysia, the former in honour of Olympian Zeus (Phillips, Pritchard 2003: xi) and the latter in honour of Dionysus. The Classical period begins with the first Olympic Games in 776 (Phillips, Pritchard 2003: xi) and the Olympic Games are considered to be the first Pan-Hellenic festival in Greece, uniting all the Hellenes under a pact of truce in order to compete and worship Zeus. It has been argued that the Olympics were no more than a sporting competition and that the fact that they are dedicated to Zeus is unimportant. H.A. Harris states that the connection between sport and religion has been exaggerated in many works on the subject of the Olympics (Harris 1972: 16). However in my opinion although the sporting element is important as it offers a sense of pride to the competitors the event itself is primarily religious. Paul Cartledge says that “it would be wrong to ignore the fundamental religious components of the ancient Olympics.”  (Easterling, Muir 1985: 110) The fact that the first day of every Olympics was reserved for sacrifices, dedications and prayers to Zeus Olympios as well as the fact that every competitor had to swear an oath before the statue of Zeus (Easterling, Muir 1985: 110) shows just how important religion was at the Olympics. The Olympics itself as an event was enormously important to the sense of Pan-Hellenism in Greece as due to the fact that all Greeks eligible to compete, Hellenes came from all over the Greek world to compete in the Olympics creating a sense of Pan-Hellenism both in the Greek mainland to as far afield as Massilia and the east coast of the Black sea (Easterling, Muir 1985: 103, 104). It was not only competitors who would come to assert their Hellenism at the Olympics, up to 40 000 spectators would come from all over the Greek world to watch the Olympics (Easterling, Muir 1985: 110), showing just how important this event was to the notion of Pan-Hellenism.

 

It was not only sporting festivals like the Olympic Games that brought the Hellenes together and gave them a sense of unity. The Great Dionysia, a festival dedicated to Dionysus where tragedy and comedy were performed in front a Pan-Hellenic audience also had a unifying affect on the Classical Greek world. Although it was primarily an Athenian festival that took place in Athens, foreigners definitely attended the festival, most of which came from neighbouring states (Easterling 1997: 61). The role of religion in theatre cannot be underplayed, as the basis of most Ancient Greek plays is myth and the role of the Gods in these plays is plain for all to see. In many of the plays such as Euripides’ Bacchae the God is the main character, whilst in others they play a background role, orchestrating events from afar. The Dionysia both starts and ends with religious ceremony, with the culmination of the festival being the victors offering their prizes of goats or bulls to Dionysus (Simon 1983: 102). This Pan-Hellenic festival is most importantly a religious event where the performances are made to Dionysus, or more specifically to his high priest who would sit in the front row of the theatre. In terms of creating a sense of Pan-Hellenism in the Greece the theatre and the arts are essential as they provide a common ground which all Greeks can relate, and the Dionysia is a perfect example of how religion is essential to Pan-Hellenism.

 

The role of religion in Pan-Hellenism can also be seen through the deference paid to the oracle at Delphi. Both Thucydides and Plutarch make regular reference to the word of the Apollo’s oracle at Delphi carrying practically the word of law. In his life of Lycurgus Plutarch says how the entire Spartan constitution was validated by the oracle and had the oracle not done so, Lycurgus would have cancelled his reforms (Plutarch, Lycurgus 29.89). Thucydides also shows just how seriously the word of the God was taken in his History of the Peloponnesian war by stating how the citizens of Epidamnus handed over their city to the Corinthians just because the oracle says so (Thucydides 1.28). The city states would seek the word of Apollo over all of their most important decisions, and this shows just how seriously religion was taken in Classical Greece.

 

The trust than the Hellenes placed in religion is obvious given the fact that before 454/3BC when the Athenians moved it to Athens (Phillips, Pritchard 2003: 210), the treasury for the Delian League was at the temple of Apollo on Delos (Thucydides 1.96). As a Pen-Hellenic alliance the fact that the temple of Apollo was inviolable was essential as it meant that the city states of the Delian league would be able to trust that their money was safe and this would fortify their alliance. It was not until after the Athenians took the treasury to Athens and their role in the Delian League became too heavy-handed that divisions in the league began to appear which lead to the start of Peloponnesian war began in 431BC (Easterling, Muir 1985: 116). The trust in security of the treasury had been broken as it had been removed from the Temple of Apollo.

 

Religion as a unifying force in Classical Greece cannot be taken too lightly as although the practices from polis to polis were not exactly the same, the religious festivals brought the Hellenes together in a way that nothing else could. From the Olympics games to the Dionysia, these festivals both physically and metaphorically brought the Greeks together and gave them a sense of unity. When you add the reverence paid to the Oracle at Delphi and to the temples across Greece it is easy to see how much influence religion had on the daily life of all Greeks, and how this was essential to the idea of Pan-Hellenism.

 

 

Bibliography

 

Easterling, P.E. 1997. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy, Cambridge

Easterling, P.E. Muir, J.V. 1985. Greek Religion and Society, Cambridge

Harris, H. 1972. Sport in Greece and Rome, Cornell

Herodotus, The History, trans. D.Grene. (Chicago 1987)

Meiggs, R. 1972. The Athenian Empire. Oxford

Pausanias, Description of Greece, trans. J.Frazer. (London 1897)

Phillips, D, Pritchard, D. 2003. Sport and Festival in the Ancient Greek World. Swansea

Plutarch, On Sparta, trans. R.Talbert. [Penguin Classics] (London 1998)

Simon, E. 1983. Festivals of Attica, Madison

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, trans. R.Warner. [Penguin Classics] (London 1954)

Winkler, J, Zeitlin, F. 1990. Nothing to do with Dionysos? Athenian Drama and its social context. Princeton.