The Gods of Politics in Early Greek Cities

Abstract

A have decided to speak of "the gods" rather than "religion," and the "political domain" (le politique) to identify the specific domain that has been recognized as such (to politikon) ever since Aristotle. As for the earliest Greek cities, they constitute the area of my present fieldwork. No doubt you thought, "Presumably, he's a Hellenist" . . . and there is, for heaven's sake, surely nothing shameful about being a Hellenist. All the sanie, I should like to make it clear that, very early on, I was lucky enough to embark upon comparative studies. What kind of comparative stud ies? The kind that involves historians working with anthro pologists, and vice versa. But to work as an anthropologist particularly concerned with the comparativist approaches of ethnologists and historians is more complex than it may ap pear.1 When Hellenists hear of someone "doing anthropology with the ancient Greeks," they manifest irritation, and as for historians?I am thinking of mainstream historians, those of our "major" nations of both today and yesterday?they too are usually less than enthusiastic, particularly if it is a matter of embarking upon comparativism of a widely ranging na ture.