My OpenLearn Profile
Personalise your OpenLearn profile, save your favourite content and get recognition for your learning
Exploring ancient Greek religion
The ancient Greeks did not have a term equivalent to the English word ‘religion’. However, their world was populated by numerous figures they both recognised and worshipped as divinities. Among these figures was Amphiaraos, an ancient Greek hero who was later worshipped as a god and popularly associated with healing through the medium of dreams. But there was no sacred book (like those which exist in many religions today) which told the ancient Greeks what to believe about Amphiaraos or how to communicate with him. How, then, did people and communities know how to worship Amphiaraos?
In this course, you will explore this question by looking at textual and visual evidence relating to Amphiaraos’ sanctuary, which was located at a town called Oropos, in northeast Attica. You will engage with this material to learn about some of the different ways the ancient Greeks interacted with Amphiaraos, both individually and as part of their community.
Interested in taking your learning further? You might find it helpful to explore the Open University’s Classical Studies courses and qualifications.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- develop awareness of the rich and complex relationship between politics and religion in the ancient Greek world
- understand how to uncover personal experiences in the study of ancient religions
- feel confident in working with both ancient texts and visual source material to answer questions about ancient Greek religion
- use Amphiaraos' sanctuary as a case-study for understanding the broader political and personal aspects of ancient Greek religion.
First Published: 06/02/2024
Updated: 06/02/2024
Rate and Review
Create an account to get more
Track your progress
Review and track your learning through your OpenLearn Profile.
Statement of Participation
On completion of a course you will earn a Statement of Participation.
Access all course activities
Take course quizzes and access all learning.
Review the course
When you have finished a course leave a review and tell others what you think.
It was greatly appreciated that there were no broken links and that all included figures were of the correct resolution; unfortunately, this is unusual for OpenLearn courses.
Just 2 miscellaneous points (such a small number is also very unusual) and a few potentially useful URLs:
1) “View description” and “View alternative description” for each figure are the same.
2) There seems to be a lack of consensus as to the interval between the 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗮 (4,5 or 4-6 years)?
4.4 Competing traditions: Athens and Oropos Activity 9
"The … quadrennial festival for Amphiaraos [i.e. the Great Amphiaraia, which occurred every four years]"
"it is likely that the festival is celebrated every 4 years"
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/classical-studies-festivals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEKWLz9EqB0
"often this involved overhauling Amphiaraos’ penteteric festival known as the Great Amphiaraia"
https://brill.com/display/book/9789004472587/BP000001.xml
"At the Amphiareion, in addition to the presumed annual festival, Greater Amphiareia were celebrated in an agonistic festival of athletic games, every fifth year."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiareion_of_Oropos
"…quadrennial festival (occuring every 4-6 years)"
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/intranets/students/modules/greekreligion/database/clunbg/
3) The following links may be of interest:
https://brill.com/display/title/55344
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/intranets/students/modules/greekreligion/database/clunbg/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_religion
https://nembutsu.cc/2020/01/26/whatever-happened-to-the-ancient-greek-religion/