The gods in the Iliad are a conflicted community. They support different sides of the Trojan conf... more The gods in the Iliad are a conflicted community. They support different sides of the Trojan conflict and root for different heroes and, because of that, they constantly quarrel or plot against each other. In many scenes, the tension between them rises and the audience is made to think it will turn into violence - for instance when Hera incites the gods to revolt against her husband (Il. 8.205-207) or when Zeus threatens all the gods that he will suspend them high in the air ((Il. 8.18-26). The menace of aggression, however, never gets realized - at the last moments the gods restrain themselves and are able to achieve peace. The tension between them is often released with shared laughter. This duality of the divine reactions - violent anger on one hand and rational withdrawal on the other - is surprising. In this paper, I argue that this state can be truly understood if one considers it from the perspective of divine experiences. During the narrative, the gods share many memories of the past, which reveal a different and much more violent world of the past, when Zeus was a tyrannical ruler and the gods were rebellious subjects. Together these stories present a memory of the Olympians as a collective, which influences the way they behave and what they choose, often contrary to their initial impulses.
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)
The paper discusses the social status of doctors and seers in the archaic and early classical era... more The paper discusses the social status of doctors and seers in the archaic and early classical era. The élite specialists participated actively in the aristocratic display and culture, yet the changeable dynamics of their prestige made their situation exceptional compared to the other aristoi. A crucial factor to be taken into account was their high geographical mobility, inherent to their occupation. I argue that it enabled them to achieve a high status in new communities at a great speed, but also deprived them of the mechanism of protection that less mobile individuals had and thus often contributed to their downfall. Finally, I show the strategies the specialists employed to keep their prestige stable.
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)
The gods in the Iliad are a conflicted community. They support different sides of the Trojan conf... more The gods in the Iliad are a conflicted community. They support different sides of the Trojan conflict and root for different heroes and, because of that, they constantly quarrel or plot against each other. In many scenes, the tension between them rises and the audience is made to think it will turn into violence - for instance when Hera incites the gods to revolt against her husband (Il. 8.205-207) or when Zeus threatens all the gods that he will suspend them high in the air ((Il. 8.18-26). The menace of aggression, however, never gets realized - at the last moments the gods restrain themselves and are able to achieve peace. The tension between them is often released with shared laughter. This duality of the divine reactions - violent anger on one hand and rational withdrawal on the other - is surprising. In this paper, I argue that this state can be truly understood if one considers it from the perspective of divine experiences. During the narrative, the gods share many memories of the past, which reveal a different and much more violent world of the past, when Zeus was a tyrannical ruler and the gods were rebellious subjects. Together these stories present a memory of the Olympians as a collective, which influences the way they behave and what they choose, often contrary to their initial impulses.
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)
The paper discusses the social status of doctors and seers in the archaic and early classical era... more The paper discusses the social status of doctors and seers in the archaic and early classical era. The élite specialists participated actively in the aristocratic display and culture, yet the changeable dynamics of their prestige made their situation exceptional compared to the other aristoi. A crucial factor to be taken into account was their high geographical mobility, inherent to their occupation. I argue that it enabled them to achieve a high status in new communities at a great speed, but also deprived them of the mechanism of protection that less mobile individuals had and thus often contributed to their downfall. Finally, I show the strategies the specialists employed to keep their prestige stable.
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)
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Papers by Katarzyna Kostecka
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)
The research on this article was supported by the National Science Centre grants
number 2016/23/N/HS3/00838 (Mythical genealogies of aristocratic families in archaic and classical Greece)