Details
This volume assembles approaches to rituals in several cultures of the Ancient Mediterranean (Egyptian, Punic, Greek, Italian, Roman) from the second millennium BCE to Late Antiquity. 'Ritual dynamics' is the common theme of the fourteen chapters. Rituals are understood as complex socio-cultural constructs that are connected with tensions: tensions within the cult community; tensions between norm and performance, expectation and reality, traditional significance and re-interpretation, stereotype and variability. Exploiting a variety of sources (literary sources, inscriptions, iconography), the authors approach the questions of how such tensions influence the performance and impact of rituals, how they generate change, how ritual agency is connected with gender and social standing, how rituals trigger particular emotions and create emotional communities, and how the literary and visual representations of rituals reflect their cultural relevance.
Reviews & Quotes
""...this is a very rich and stimulating set of essays that provide much food for thought and encouragement for further investigation.""
Lynn E. Roller, University of California, Davis
Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2012.12.08 )
"United by a strong editorial vision, this volume of diverse scholarship on a wide range of subjects features varied methods and theoretical constructs. It offers specific applications of ritual dynamics and exemplary attention to evidence in a rich and enlightening smorgasbord that is a valuable presentation of multidisciplinary material."
Mary B. Hollinshead
AJA
(July 2013)