Visiting the Oracle at Dodona: Contexts of Unknowing in Ancient Greek Religion

doi:10.1017/9781009632218

Previous studies of Greek oracles have largely studied their social and political connections. In contrast, this pioneering volume explores the experience of visiting the oracle of Zeus at Dodona in NW Greece, focusing on the role of the senses and embodied cognition. Building on the unique corpus of oracular question tablets found at the site, it investigates how this experience made new ways of knowing and new forms of knowledge available. Combining traditional treatments of evidence with more recent theoretical approaches, including from psychology, narratology and environmental humanities, the chapters explore the role of nature, sound, touch, and stories in the experience of consultation. By evoking the details of this experience, they help the reader understand more deeply what it was like for ancient men and women to visit the oracle and ask the god for help. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

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Contents

Visiting the Oracle at Dodona
pp i-i
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Ancient Religion and Cognition - Series page
pp ii-ii
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Visiting the Oracle at Dodona - Title page
pp iii-iii
Contexts of Unknowing in Ancient Greek Religion
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Copyright page
pp iv-iv
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Dedication
pp v-vi
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Contents
pp vii-viii
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Figures
pp ix-ix
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Tables
pp x-x
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Spelling, Abbreviations, Data Access Statement
pp xi-xii
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Contributors
pp xiii-xiv
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Preface and Acknowledgements
pp xv-xvi
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Introduction: Contexts and Chronotopes
pp 1-14
- By Esther Eidinow
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Part I - Site and Senses
pp 15-120
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Chapter 1 - ‘At a Time When the Temple of Dodonean Zeus Had No Walls’ until the First Century BCE
pp 17-33
- By Eleni Vasileiou
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Chapter 2 - Pilgrimage to Dodona: Visibility, Movement, Motivation
pp 34-57
- By Diego Chapinal-Heras
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Chapter 3 - What Can the Lead Tell Us?
pp 58-79
- By Hugh Bowden
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Chapter 4 - Materialist Insights: The Tablets of Dodona as Objects
pp 80-96
- By Erica Angliker
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Chapter 5 - Soundscape and Religious Experience at Dodona
pp 97-120
- By Katerina Kolotourou
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Part II - Consultation and Cognition
pp 121-239
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Chapter 6 - The Lost ‘Instructions for Use’ of the Dodonaean Lamellae
pp 123-146
- By Pierre Bonnechere
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Chapter 7 - Master of Clarity: The Utterances of Zeus Dodonaios in Fifth-Century Tragedy
pp 147-168
- By Jessica Piccinini
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Chapter 8 - Selves, Self-talk and Stories in the Dodona Oracle Question Tablets
pp 169-189
- By Esther Eidinow
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Chapter 9 - The Environmental Dimension of Consultations at Dodona: Negotiating Material Practice, Performing Resilience
pp 190-213
- By Christopher Schliephake
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Chapter 10 - Consulting the Oracle at Dodona: An Ontological Perspective
pp 214-239
- By Michael A. Flower
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Index
pp 240-246
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Visiting the Oracle at Dodona

Contexts of Unknowing in Ancient Greek Religion

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