Further Reading

1.1 The Nature of the Olympian Gods (p. 18)

Allan, W. (2006) 'Divine Justice and Cosmic Order in Early Greek Epic' in Journal of Hellenic Studies 126: pp.1–35. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
A readable and thoughtful defence of the gods providing morality and justice in early Greek Epic.

Downden, K. (2007) 'Olympian gods, Olympian pantheon' in D. Ogden (ed.) A Companion to Greek Religion. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 41-45.A thorough introduction to the nature of the Olympian gods.

Eidinow, E. (2007) Oracles, Curses and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 72–124; 345–348. 
A thorough account that offers translations of the Dodona oracular tablets as well as discussing oracles in a wider context.

Ekroth, G. (2007) 'Heroes and Hero-cult' in D. Ogden (ed) A Companion to Greek Religion. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 100–114. 
An exploration of heroes and their cults that considers the differences between the myth and the cult, the ritual and places of worship.

Gould, J. (1985) ‘On Making Sense of Greek Religion’ in P.E. Easterline and J.V. Muir (eds) Greek Religion and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapter 1. 
A useful introduction to Greek Religion and Society.

Graziosi, B. (2014) The Gods of Olympus. London: Profile Books, parts 1–2. 
A very enjoyable and readable book, that considers the Olympian gods from Archaic through to Classical Greece. It covers both traditional beliefs as well as ‘critical views’.

Griffin, J. (1983) Homer on Life and Death. Oxford: Oxford University Press, chapter 5. 
A fascinating and detailed study of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. His chapter on the nature of the gods is highly readable and accessible while at the same time focused on the epics.

Kearns, E. (2004) 'The Gods in the Homeric epics' in The Cambridge Companion to Homer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 59-73. 
A useful overview of the role of the Greek gods and divine action as presented in the Homeric poems. 

Kirk, G. (1974) The Nature of Greek Myths. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
A study on Greek mythology in general, with insight into the Homeric portrayal of gods.

Parker, R. (2007) Polytheism and Society at Athens. Oxford: University Press, chapters 1–5. 
A very detailed and in depth study of religion in Athens that considers household, civic and international religious practice.

Redfield, J. (1975) Nature and Culture in the Iliad. London: University of Chicago Press. 
An interesting study of the Iliad, with pages 225-248 focusing on the gods.

1.2 Personal Experience of the Divine (p. 32)

Eidinow, E. (2007) Oracles, Curses and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
A thorough account that offers translations of the Dodona oracular tablets as well as discussing oracles in a wider context.

Ekroth, G. (2002) The Sacrificial Rituals of Greek Hero-Cults in the Archaic to the Early Hellenistic Periods. Liège. 
A thorough study combining archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence of the sacrificial rituals that were practiced by Greek worshippers to honour Greek heroes from the Archaic to the early Hellenistic periods.

LiDonnici, L. R. (1995) The Epidaurian Miracle Inscriptions: Text, Translation, and Commentary. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press. 
A brilliant collection of original Greek votive inscriptions and translations narrating the fantastic tales of Asclepius’ miraculous deeds.

Nutton, V. (2012) Ancient Medicine. London: Routledge. 
A densely packed book with a wide array of sources on ancient medicine. 

Parke, W. (1967) The Oracles of Zeus: Dodona, Olympia, Ammon. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 
Classic work on the ‘other’ Greek oracles, summing up the most important aspects of the three oracular sanctuaries offering alternatives to Delphi.

Versnel, H. (1981) Faith, Hope and Worship: Aspects of Religious Mentality in the Ancient World. Leiden: Brill.
A rich volume of five essays focusing on topics such as prayers, faith and communication with the divine in Greek religion. 

1.3 Religion and Society (p. 50)

Jenkins, I. (1994) The Parthenon Frieze. London: British Museum Press.
This book has wonderful images of the frieze that enables the reader to appreciate it in full. It also contains detailed descriptions as well as various arguments about the subject matter.

Kindt, J. (2015) 'Personal religion: A productive category for the study of ancient Greek religion?' in Journal of Hellenic Studies 135: pp. 35-50. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
A detailed and thoughtful study on individual religion in ancient Greece.

Mikalson, J. (2010) Ancient Greek Religion. Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 123–184.
A highly readable and accessible study of many aspects of Greek Religion.

Newby, Z. (2006) Athletics in the Ancient World. London: Bloomsbury Plc. 
An engaging and accessible study of ancient athletics, that sets the Olympic contests within its festival context.

Parker, R. (2007) Polytheism and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, chapter 12. 
A very detailed and in depth study of religion in Athens that considers household, civic and international religious practice.

Bruit Zaidman, L. (1992) Religion in the Ancient Greek City. New York: Cambridge University Press. 
A very detailed and interesting study of civic religion that presents evidence from different cities, but with a clear focus on Athenian festivals.

1.4 Religion and Society (p. 73)

Beard, M. (2010) The Parthenon. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, chapter 2. 
A very interesting overview of the history of the Parthenon.

Evans-Pritchard, E. (1937) Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Oxford: Clarendon Press, chapters 8–9. 
A fascinating account of how oracles form part of everyday lives of a tribe. Useful for trying to engage with the role oracles would have played in people’s lives in Ancient Greece.

Hurwit, J. (1999) The Athenian Acropolis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapters 3, 4, 8 and 9. 
A detailed history of the Acropolis reflecting the changing political climate.

Price, S. (1985) 'Delphi and Divination' in P. E. Easterline and J. V. Muir (eds) Greek Religion and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapter 6.A useful introduction to Delphi and the various accounts of how divination occurred.

Scott, M. (2015) Delphi: A History of the Centre of the Ancient World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 
A very detailed and thorough study of Delphi that is still very accessible and readable. 

Spivey, N. (2012) The Ancient Olympics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
A study of the Olympic games that considers the religious and political context as well as the athletics.

Swaddling, J. (2011) The Ancient Olympic Games. London: British Museum Press.
A very accessible account of the Olympic Games.

1.5 Rituals and Priests (p. 85)

Bremmer, J. N. (2007) 'Greek Normative Animal Sacrifice' in D. Ogden (ed.) A Companion to Greek Religion. Oxford: Blackwell. 
A brief yet thorough summary of the current scholarly debate on theories explaining animal sacrifice.

Burkert, W. (1983) Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. Berkeley: University of California Press. 
A fascinating theoretical approach to ancient Greek animal sacrifice from an anthropological perspective.

Chaniotis, A. (2008) 'Priests as Ritual Experts in the Greek World', in B. Dignas and K. Trampedach (eds.) Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Officials from Homer to Heliodorus. London: Harvard University Press, pp. 17–34. 
A brilliant overview of what was needed to become a priest or ritual expert in Greece, including the most recent evidence. 

Detienne, M., and J.-P. Vernant, eds. (1989) The Cuisine of Sacrifice Among the Greeks. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
An interesting study of the motivation behind animal sacrifice, considering among the possibility that animal sacrifice may have provided a substantial part of the diet of Ancient Greece’s population.

Dignas, B., and K. Trampedach (eds.) (2008) Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Officials from Homer to Heliodorus. London: Harvard University Press. 
A very useful collection of essays on different aspects of Greek ritual specialists including a particularly informative introduction to this much-debated subject.

Hägg, R., and B. Alroth (eds.) (2005) Greek Sacrificial Ritual, Olympian and Chthonian. Stockholm: Paul Åströms Förlag. 
An important scholarly collection of thirty-seven cross-disciplinary essays discussing questions concerning the relationship of Olympian gods and chthonian (underworld) gods in Greek thought.

1.6 Religion and Philosophy (p. 94)

Ahbel-Rappe, S., and R. Kamtekar (eds.) (2006) A Companion to Socrates. Oxford: Blackwell. 
An accessible collection of introductory chapters on various aspects of Socrates’ work and life.

Finkelberg, A. (1990) 'Studies in Xenophanes', in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 93, pp. 104-167. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
A thorough study aiming to reconstruct aspects of the fragmentary works of Xenophanes as presented in Ancient Greek sources.

Lännström, A. (2012) 'Trusting the Divine Voice: Socrates and His Daimonion', in Apeiron 45, pp. 32–49. 
A thorough study considering nature and the role of the ‘daimonion’ in Socrates’ philosophy. 

McPherran, M. L. (2011) 'Socratic Religion', in D. R. Morrison (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Socrates, pp. 111-137. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A good overview of the current debate on Socrates’ attitude towards ‘civic’ religion and his own religious ideas.

Palmer, J. (1998) 'Xenophanes’ Ouranian God in the Fourth Century', in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 16, pp. 1-18. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thorough and dense article considering the possible meanings of the ‘Ouranian’ god as described by Xenophanes.

Tor, S. (2013) ‘Mortal and Divine in Xenophanes’ Epistemology’, in Rhizomata 1:2, pp. 248–282. 
A thorough and complex study considering certain aspects of Xenophanes idea of divine disclosure.

Waterfield, R. (2009) Why Socrates Died. London: Faber. 
An interesting and lively debate of philosophical, religious and political aspects that may have led to Socrates’ death sentence.

Additional Reading

General Reading

Bremmer, J. N. (1999) Greek Religion.

Bruit-Zaidman, L., and P. Schmitt-Pantel. (1992) Religion in the Ancient Greek City.

Burkert, W. (1985) Greek Religion.

Buxton, R., ed. (2000) Oxford Readings in Greek Religion. Oxford. 

Easterling, P., and J. Muir, eds. (1987) Greek Religion and Society. 

Eidinow, E., and J., Kindt, eds. (2016) Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion. Oxford.

Haysom, M., and J. Wallenstein, eds. (2011) Current Approaches to Religion in Ancient Greece. 

Johnston, S. I., ed. (2004) Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide. 

Kearns, E. (2009) Ancient Greek Religion. A Sourcebook. Oxford.

Ogden, D., ed. (2007) Blackwell Companion to Greek Religion. 

Price, S. (1999) Religions of the Ancient Greeks. 

Sanctuaries, Deities, and Cults

Sanctuaries

Alcock, A., and R. Osbourne, eds. (1994) Placing the Gods, Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in Ancient Greece.

Marinatos, N., and R. Hägg, eds. (1993) Greek Sanctuaries: New Approaches.

Schachter, A., ed. (1992) Le Sanctuaire Grec. Geneva.Thomlinson, R. (1976) Greek Sanctuaries. 

Wescoat, B., and R. Ousterhout, eds. (2012) Architecture of the Sacred.

Mysteries

Bremmer, J. N. (2014) Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World. Berlin/Boston.

Clinton, K. (1992) Myth and Cult: The Iconography of the Elusinian Mysteries. 

Cosmopoulos, M. (2002) Greek Mysteries. The Archaeology of Ancient Greek Secret Cults.

Mylonas, G. (1961) Eleusis and the Elusinian Mysteries.

Hero and healing cults

Ekroth, G. (2007) 'Heroes and Hero-cults', in A Companion to Greek Religion. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 100-114.

Ekroth, G. (2002) The Sacrificial Ritual of Greek Hero-cults in the Archaic to Early Hellenistic Periods. Liege.

Hart, G. D. (2000) Asclepius: The God of Medicine.

Wickkiser, B. L. (2008) Asklepios, Medicine, and the Politics of Healing in Fifth-century Greece: Between Craft and Cult. Baltimore.

Concepts and theoretical approaches

Polytheism

Parker, R. (2007) Polytheism and Society. Oxford.

Versnel, H. S. (2011) Coping with the Gods. Leiden/New York.

Versnel, H. S. (2011) 'Heis Dionysos! One Dionysus? A Polytheistic Perspective', in R. Schlesier et al., A Different God? Dionysus and Ancient Polytheism, pp. 23-46. Berlin.

Polis religion/personal religion

Kindt, J. 'Personal Religion: A Productive Category for the Study of Ancient Greek Religion', JHS 135 (2015), pp.35-50.

Kindt, J. (2012) Rethinking Greek Religion. Cambridge.

Sourvinou-Inwood., C. 'What Is Polis-religion?' in Richard Buxton, ed., Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, pp. 13-37. Oxford. First published in O. Murray and S. Price, eds. (1990) The Greek City from Homer to Alexander, pp. 295-322. Oxford. 

Sourvinou-Inwood, C. (2000) 'Further Aspects of Polis-religion', in Richard Buxton, ed., Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, pp. 38-55. Oxford. First published in AION (Arch) 10 (1988) pp. 259-274.

Ritual Practice

Votives

Erdman, K. M. (2014) 'Votives and Values: Communicating with the Supernatural'. in A. Bokern, ed., Embodying Value? The Transformation of Objects in and from the Ancient World, pp. 89-100. Oxford.

van Straten, F. T. (1992) 'Votives and the Worshippers in Greek Sanctuaries', in A. Schachter, ed., Le Sanctuaire Grec,pp.247-284. Geneva.

Sacrifice

Detienne, M., and J. P. Vernant. (1989) The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks. 

Hägg, R., ed. (1998) Ancient Greek Cult Practice from the Archaeological Evidence.

Naiden, F. S. (2013) Smoke Signals for the Gods: Ancient Greek Sacrifice from the Archaic through Roman Periods. OUP.

van Straten, F. T. (1995) Hiera Kala. Images of Animal Sacrifice in Archaic and Classical Greece. Leiden/New York.

Oracles

Eidinow, E. (2007) Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. Oxford.

Kindt, J. (2016) Revisiting Delphi: Religion and Storytelling in Ancient Greece. Cambridge.

Parker, R. 'Seeking Advice from Zeus and Dodona', Greece and Rome 63 (2016), pp. 69-90.

Parker, R. (1985) 'Greek Oracles and Greek States', in P. Cartledge and F. Harvey, eds., CRUX: Essays in Greek History Presented to GEM de St Croix, pp. 298-326.

Philosophy

Betek, G. (2012) 'Greek Philosophy and Religion', in A Companion to Ancient Philosophy, pp.623-639. Chichester.

Granger, H. 'Xenophanes' Positive Theology and his Criticism of Greek Popular Religion', Ancient Philosophy 33 (2013), pp. 385-272.

Hermann, F-G. (2007) 'Greek Religion and Philosophy: The God of the Philosopher', in A Companion to Greek Religion, pp. 385-397. Chichester.

McPherran, M. L. (1999) The Religion of Socrates.

Mikalson, J. D. (2010) Greek Popular Religion in Greek Philosophy. Oxford.