the hellenistic period, certainly existed from at least the sixth century, and probably
earlier. In the classical period it is difficult to discern the nature of the constituency of
such groups; in the hellenistic period they show great variety in their composition:
some included citizens, others women, metics, craftsmen, even slaves; some had
mixed memberships. Some approximated to trade unions, others to burial clubs.
Conclusion
The issue of the relationship of society and religion is a modern problem, one legacy
of Christianity to modern scholarship – which is not to say that we should not pose
the question of the ancient Greeks. For the Greeks the comparable but not identical
problem had to do, rather, with the coherence of political life, of which religion was
an integral part. The general coherence of religion with ancient ‘‘political society’’ is
manifest; but it is equally obvious that religious observance provides ample scope for
conflict as well. Religion is part of society, but it is a dynamic and its impulses may or
may not be consonant with prevailing social structures.
GUIDE TO FURTHER READINGFor the coherence of society and religion see Durkheim 1912; for further assessment and a
survey of other work pertaining to religion and society, see (e.g.) M. Hamilton 2001 (109–21
on Durkheim). On Greek religion and society see generally Sourvinou-Inwood 1988b, 1990,
and Parker 1996 and 2005. For religious utopianism and theCity of Godsee Deane 1973 and
Wolin 2004:86–114. For religious activism in America see Corbett and Corbett 1999. For the
history of the idea of society see Mayhew 1968–79. For the history of sociology see Goulds-
blom and Heilbron 2001. On science and religion, see Ferngren 2002. For the problem of the
relationship between orders of knowledge and socio-political orders in ancient Greece see Ober
- For the exceptional nature of Athens see Brock and Hodkinson 2003.
For philosophers and religion in general, see Burkert 1985:305–37. For the ‘‘embedded’’
concept of society and economy see Austin and Vidal-Naquet 1977:3–28. For Herodotus and
religion see Mikalson 2003; for Thucydides on religion, see Hornblower 1992. For the history
of the idea of politics see Meier 1990, and for social contract theory see, e.g., Levin 1973.
My account of Athenian society relies chiefly on Aristotle’s discussion in thePolitics: see
Hedrick 1994. On the family see Patterson 1998; on Greek slaves, Garlan 1988 and Vidal-
Naquet 1986:159–67; on metics, Whitehead 1977; on children, Golden 1990 and Neils and
Oakley 2003. For the Citizenship Law of Pericles see Boegehold 1993, and for citizens see
Manville 1990. For class and birth status, see Ober 1989:192–292 and for the ‘‘liturgical class’’
see Davies 1971, 1984.
For group worship as performative see various writings by Victor Turner, e.g. 1974. For
general treatments of Athenian festivals see Deubner 1932 and Parke 1977. For priesthoods,
ancient and modern, see Burkert 1985:95–8. For the Athenian religious codes, see Parker
1996:43–55, 218–20. For the Panathenaea see Neils 1996; for the Greater Dionysia see
the various essays collected in Winkler and Zeitlin 1990, particularly that by Winkler and that
co-authored by Ober and Strauss; for the Anthesteria and Choes see R. Hamilton 1992; for
Brauron see Faraone 2003, and for dedications to Artemis of Brauron on the Acropolis see
Linders 1972. For ephebes see Vidal-Naquet 1986:106–28. For the Thesmophoria see Winkler
Religion and Society in Classical Greece 295