Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars

Jon D. Mikalson

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9780807862018
• Topic: Geschichte
• Subtopic: Geschichte der griechischen Antike

The two great Persian invasions of Greece, in 490 and 480-79 B.C., both repulsed by the Greeks, provide our best opportunity for understanding the interplay of religion and history in ancient Greece. Using the Histories of Herodotus as well as other historical and archaeological sources, Jon Mikalson shows how the Greeks practiced their religion at this pivotal moment in their history. In the period of the invasions and the years immediately after, the Greeks--internationally, state by state, and sometimes individually--turned to their deities, using religious practices to influence, understand, and commemorate events that were threatening their very existence. Greeks prayed and sacrificed; made and fulfilled vows to the gods; consulted oracles; interpreted omens and dreams; created cults, sanctuaries, and festivals; and offered dozens of dedications to their gods and heroes--all in relation to known historical events. By portraying the human situations and historical circumstances in which Greeks practiced their religion, Mikalson advances our knowledge of the role of religion in fifth-century Greece and reveals a religious dimension of the Persian Wars that has been previously overlooked.

General Index

Page numbers in italics indicate the most general or important discussions of the topic. Entries for peoples (for example, Plataeans) do not necessarily include all the individuals, gods, heroes, oracles, and festivals of that people. See also the entries for individuals (for example, Arimnestus of Plataea) and the entries for individual gods, along with the following entries: Delphic Oracle, Festivals, Heroes and heroines, and Omens.

• Abae, 27, 69, 87, 122, 135. See also Apollo Abaios
• Abderitae, 49–50, 176, 201 (n. 18)
• Acamas, hero of Athens, 34
• Acanthians, 28, 131, 176
• Achaeans, 78
• Achilles, 175
• Actaeon, hero of Plataea, 94
• Adeimantus of Corinth, 79–80, 85
• Adrastus, hero of Sicyon, 176, 193
• Adrastus of Phrygia, 163–164
• Aeacidae, heroes of Aegina, 22–23, 77, 129–130
• Aeacus, hero of Aegina, 22–23, 77, 130, 176, 192
• Aegeus, hero of Athens, 34
• Aeginetans, 20–23, 26, 74, 77, 84, 98, 104–105, 115, 117–118, 120, 126, 130, 142, 147, 191–192, 200 (n. 9)
• Aeneas of Troy, 175
• Aeschylus of Athens, 6, 33, 42, 147, 151, 164, 181, 234 (n. 22)
• Afterlife, 67, 178
• Agamemnon of Mycenae,...