Herodotus on Sacred Marriage and Sacred Prostitution at Babylon

The article compares Herodotus’ representation of “sacred marriage” and “sacred prostitution” with relevant passages in Xenophon, Diodorus, and Strabo. The representation of the “sacred marriage” ritual in ancient near eastern sources points to a venerable custom used to induce divine epiphanies but, also, to a powerful political tool that later rulers used to establish or enhance their legitimacy. Furthermore, Xenophon’s appreciation of the divine favor that eastern rulers mustered and the symbolism they used to relate it, indicates that the Greeks neither ignored nor rejected such eastern norms. By taking into account the scholarly arguments that doubt the widespread existence of “sacred prostitution” in antiquity and point to a misreading of Herodotus by later Roman authors, who read his work through the “orientalism” of their day, we argue that Herodotus does not exhibit inherent bias against the Babylonians when reporting the famous custom requiring every Babylonian woman to prostitute herself once in her lifetime. A closer reading of the text suggests that Herodotus was more interested in castigating religious prejudice regardless of the ethnicity of its practitioners.L’article opère une comparaison entre la représentation du « mariage sacré » et de la « prostitution sacrée » telle que la livre Hérodote et les développements de Xénophon, Diodore et Strabon qui peuvent lui être comparés. La représentation du rituel du « mariage sacré » dans les sources proche-orientales renvoie à une coutume ancienne destinée à induire des épiphanies divines, mais il s’agit également d’un puissant instrument politique que des dynastes plus récents ont utilisé pour établir ou asseoir leur légitimité. De plus, l’appréciation, par Xénophon, de la faveur divine que les souverains orientaux mobilisaient et du symbolisme auquel ils recouraient laisse entendre que les Grecs n’ignoraient ni ne rejetaient de telles coutumes. En tenant compte des interprétations qui doutent de l’existence effective de la « prostitution sacrée » dans l’antiquité et soulignent la mauvaise lecture du texte d’Hérodote par des auteurs romains plus tardifs imbus de l’orientalisme de leur temps, l’article prétend qu’Hérodote ne critique pas les Babyloniens en rapportant la fameuse exigence faite aux femmes de se prostituer une fois dans leur vie. Une lecture serrée du texte suggère qu’Hérodote était surtout soucieux de souligner les préjugés religieux, indépendamment de l’origine ethnique de ceux qui accomplissaient les rites

Drunk with Wisdom: Metaphors of Ecstasy in Plato’s Symposium and Lucian of Samosata

Among the metaphors that Plato employed in the context of his apophatic approach to philosophical truth and its experience, inebriation stands out in the Symposium, where famously Socrates is compared to Dionysian figures such as the Silenoi and Marsyas (215a-c), and to frenzied Corybantic dancers (215e; 216d; 218b). The contentious nature of inebriation as a proxy of ecstasy is aptly exemplified in Euripides’ Bacchae, where Pentheus, the distrusting new tyrant of Thebes, is keen to associate the Bacchic trance with common intoxication and lewd behavior; although Plato tries to anticipate such criticisms by repeatedly stating in the Symposium that Socrates is sober and of sound mind (e.g., 214a; 216d; 219d; 220a), later authors are unforgiving of his metaphorical style, which is deemed inconsistent with Plato’s stern disapproval of poetry. Among such later authors, Lucian of Samosata deserves closer attention apropos his treatment of inebriation as a most confusing and inappropriate metaphor for philosophical inspiration. Despite the jocular style of his dialogues, Lucian’s depiction of Platonic inebriation powerfully sketches a deep intellectual crisis that especially afflicts the young people of his time. Thus, Lucian sheds unexpected light on a less prominent chapter of Plato’s reception during the Roman imperial period

Theōria as Cure for Impiety and Atheism in Plato’s Laws and Clement of Alexandria

The article examines the impact of Plato’s views on atheism and impiety, relayed in the Laws, on Clement of Alexandria. Clement employed the adjectives godless (atheos) and impious (asebēs) often in his writings as accusations against pagan philosophers and/or heretics, but also in his defence of Christians against the very charge of atheism on account of their rejection of pagan gods (Stromata 7.1; cf. Tertullian’s Apologia 10). I argue that Clement, perceptive of Plato’s defence of philosophical contemplation (theōria) and its civic benefits in the Laws, reworked the latter’s association of disbelief with excessive confidence in fleshly pleasures (Leges 888A) in tandem with his stipulation of virtue as the civic goal of his ideal colonists of Magnesia who ought to attune to the divine principles of the cosmos. Thus, Clement promoted the concept of citizenship in the Heavenly kingdom, secured through contemplation and its ensuing impassibility. For Plato and Clement, atheism was the opposite of genuine engagement with divine truth and had no place in the ideal state. Although Clement associated the Church with peace, his views were adapted by Firmicus Maternus to sanction violent rhetoric against the pagans in the fourth century when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire

An Instance of Pathological Love in the <i>Greek Anthology</i> and Elizabethan Poetry

Asclepiades Anth.Gr. 5.64, portraying Danae as love-sick rather than the mercenary of Christian tradition, inspired Thomas Carew’s finding in her a perfect example of all-devouring passion.<br /

The Sexual Hypocrisy of Domitian: Suet., Dom. 8, 3

Charles Michael B., Anagnostou-Laoutides Eva. The Sexual Hypocrisy of Domitian: Suet., Dom. 8, 3. In: L'antiquité classique, Tome 79, 2010. pp. 173-187

Athenaeus, Clearchus and the Dress of the Persian Apple Bearers

This article examines Clearchus of Soli’s reference to the effeminate dress and equipment of the Persian μηλοφόροι or Apple Bearers, the infantry guard of the Great King, as preserved by Athenaeus in his Deipnosophistae. We argue that Athenaeus’ description of the μηλοφόροι being deliberately dressed in Median fashion so as to taunt the Medes is likely to be a misinterpretation of Clearchus’ original text. In agreement with recent evaluations of Athenaeus, we therefore suggest that his rendition of Clearchus’ original text cannot be accepted at face value, and that the μηλοφόροι were dressed and equipped in a luxurious fashion so as to conform with the standard Near Eastern visual language of majesty and power