About the Book
Personal Religion among the Greeks offers a groundbreaking exploration of the private intimate dimensions of Greek piety that are often overshadowed by studies of civic ritual and myth. In these Sather Classical Lectures André-Jean Festugière moves beyond temples festivals and state cults to trace the spiritual lives of individuals who sought personal communion with the divine. Through close readings of Homer the tragedians Plato and later Hellenistic sources he demonstrates how personal prayer reflective devotion and mystical longing coexisted with the more visible public forms of religion. In his account figures such as Hippolytus Ion and Aristides embody the deep friendship and trust that worshipers placed in their gods revealing a faith that was tender immediate and profoundly human.
Festugière distinguishes between “popular piety” and “reflective piety,” showing how Greeks of all eras—from rural devotees at rustic shrines to philosophers grappling with the mystery of Zeus—cultivated bonds with the divine that transcended civic obligation. By situating Plato within this wider current of personal religion he argues that the philosopher’s hunger for the Absolute shaped not only later Greek spirituality but also the mystical traditions of the West. This elegant and erudite volume illuminates an often-neglected aspect of classical antiquity offering modern readers new ways to understand how personal faith and the search for the divine animated Greek thought literature and practice.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice reach and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893 Voices Revived makes high-quality peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.
Festugière distinguishes between “popular piety” and “reflective piety,” showing how Greeks of all eras—from rural devotees at rustic shrines to philosophers grappling with the mystery of Zeus—cultivated bonds with the divine that transcended civic obligation. By situating Plato within this wider current of personal religion he argues that the philosopher’s hunger for the Absolute shaped not only later Greek spirituality but also the mystical traditions of the West. This elegant and erudite volume illuminates an often-neglected aspect of classical antiquity offering modern readers new ways to understand how personal faith and the search for the divine animated Greek thought literature and practice.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice reach and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893 Voices Revived makes high-quality peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.