Talks by Eleonora Grotteria
In my research I aim to show that religion can represent an aid to relieve anxiety in the context... more In my research I aim to show that religion can represent an aid to relieve anxiety in the context of plagues and epidemics, by means of examples taken from the Ancient World (with regard to the Athenian and the Antonine plagues) and the Modern one (focusing on Covid-19 pandemic). What I would like to highlight is that both prayers and religious rituals, as well as superstitious behaviours, contribute to lower the level of anxiety not only for the shared nature of their practice, but also for their compulsive character (namely, their consistent repetition by believers). Furthermore, prayers and superstition can represent a way of controlling the overpowering pandemic by delivering this control to the divine force. As regards the practice of prayers, it is noticeable the idea that was experimented during Covid 19 of using technology as an alternative way of gathering. It is fascinating as much that, in those years, specific prayers were preferred to others, such as Psalm 46 (“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”). As far the ancient pagan world is concerned, superstitious beliefs were widespread: it emerges both from the increase of magical practices, like amulets and exorcisms, and through the diffusion of Asclepius worship, during the Antonine plague. Finally it seems to be an old and rooted belief among the less educated people that a (global) epidemic may be connected to a divine punishment against human sin (see the plague sent by Apollo in the Iliad - book I - or the Roman ceremony of lectisternium).
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Strumentalizzazione dell’identità popolare da parte dei leaders politici ateniesi di V secolo: tra ideali e culti religiosi., 2024
The perspective I intend to adopt in my work conceives civic identity as a set of values through... more The perspective I intend to adopt in my work conceives civic identity as a set of values through which the Athenian society used to perceive itself, from the blooming of the first poleis to the Classical age. In a civilization devoided of a political and religious fixed structures, it goes without saying that its manipulation can take place in the very context of orality, where the only "sacred text" which a politician could appeal to was the collective memory.
Abstract: A careful reading of Herodotus', Thucydides' and Plutarch' s works allowed me to highlight some thematic choices through which Athenian political leaders tended to exploit the polis' civic ideals. It is striking the centrality of civic religion in the episodes preceding the battle of Salamina, where Themistocles invites the Athenians to accomodate the divine will expressed both by the disappearance of the sacred serpent and by the flight of a bird on the trireme: both moments were read as propitiatory divine signs to sail to the island.
Through the funeral oration pronounced by Pericles, the value of autochthony, the model of the ancestors on the battlefield and the Athenian educational system are some of the key values exalted by the Athenian general in order to urge his audience to go to war.
In the logoi delivered by the post-Periclean leaders in Thucydides' account, if, on the one hand, the historian underlines how some political ideals are still reverberated with enthusiasm (such as the value of freedom and the repulsion of tyranny), on the other hand, with Cleon in particular, there seems to be, according to the historian, an alteration of civic ideals which defined Athenian society: moderation is opposed in favor of the extreme use of violence, the encouragement to impulsiveness obscures the value of speech and reflection in the assembly.
In the light of these examples, it is interesting both to consider a political reading of the episodes quoted above, interpreting the leaders' intention as an exploitation of people's identity, in order to persuade the masses, and to observe how some embedded principles of a society could be altered and modified in order to fuel the masses' ἔρος for war.
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by Carmine Nastri, Marina Polito, Giovanna Pace, Davide Montesion, Francesco Ischia, Vittorio Cisnetti, Maria Serena Chiodo, Francesca Gazzano, Eleonora Grotteria, Han Pedazzini, Luca Fiamingo, Emanuele Scartaghiande, and Alfredo Novello
TEKMERIA 1 Greeks in the Archaic Age: Institutions, Interactions, Traditions
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Book Reviews by Eleonora Grotteria
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Talks by Eleonora Grotteria
Abstract: A careful reading of Herodotus', Thucydides' and Plutarch' s works allowed me to highlight some thematic choices through which Athenian political leaders tended to exploit the polis' civic ideals. It is striking the centrality of civic religion in the episodes preceding the battle of Salamina, where Themistocles invites the Athenians to accomodate the divine will expressed both by the disappearance of the sacred serpent and by the flight of a bird on the trireme: both moments were read as propitiatory divine signs to sail to the island.
Through the funeral oration pronounced by Pericles, the value of autochthony, the model of the ancestors on the battlefield and the Athenian educational system are some of the key values exalted by the Athenian general in order to urge his audience to go to war.
In the logoi delivered by the post-Periclean leaders in Thucydides' account, if, on the one hand, the historian underlines how some political ideals are still reverberated with enthusiasm (such as the value of freedom and the repulsion of tyranny), on the other hand, with Cleon in particular, there seems to be, according to the historian, an alteration of civic ideals which defined Athenian society: moderation is opposed in favor of the extreme use of violence, the encouragement to impulsiveness obscures the value of speech and reflection in the assembly.
In the light of these examples, it is interesting both to consider a political reading of the episodes quoted above, interpreting the leaders' intention as an exploitation of people's identity, in order to persuade the masses, and to observe how some embedded principles of a society could be altered and modified in order to fuel the masses' ἔρος for war.
Book Reviews by Eleonora Grotteria
Abstract: A careful reading of Herodotus', Thucydides' and Plutarch' s works allowed me to highlight some thematic choices through which Athenian political leaders tended to exploit the polis' civic ideals. It is striking the centrality of civic religion in the episodes preceding the battle of Salamina, where Themistocles invites the Athenians to accomodate the divine will expressed both by the disappearance of the sacred serpent and by the flight of a bird on the trireme: both moments were read as propitiatory divine signs to sail to the island.
Through the funeral oration pronounced by Pericles, the value of autochthony, the model of the ancestors on the battlefield and the Athenian educational system are some of the key values exalted by the Athenian general in order to urge his audience to go to war.
In the logoi delivered by the post-Periclean leaders in Thucydides' account, if, on the one hand, the historian underlines how some political ideals are still reverberated with enthusiasm (such as the value of freedom and the repulsion of tyranny), on the other hand, with Cleon in particular, there seems to be, according to the historian, an alteration of civic ideals which defined Athenian society: moderation is opposed in favor of the extreme use of violence, the encouragement to impulsiveness obscures the value of speech and reflection in the assembly.
In the light of these examples, it is interesting both to consider a political reading of the episodes quoted above, interpreting the leaders' intention as an exploitation of people's identity, in order to persuade the masses, and to observe how some embedded principles of a society could be altered and modified in order to fuel the masses' ἔρος for war.