Ancient Greek Atheism? A Note on Terminological Anachronisms in the Study of Ancient Greek ‘Religion’

Autor(en)

Nikolaos Roumpekas

Abstrakt

During the last forty years, religion as a concept has bedeviled scholars not only in defining the term, which certainly goes way back in history, but also regarding its applicability as a first-order scholarly tool. Some have argued to dismiss the term altogether, others have sought to re-approach how the term is used, while other scholars have endorsed its usage, but based on scholarly stipulative definitions. Recently, further discussions have emerged regarding whether contemporary scholars can use the cate- gory “religion” to talk about ancient traditions and classifications. While the issue of anachronisms is undoubtedly present in such debates, the term “atheism” has not been approached in a similar way. What classical studies on ancient “religions” often lack is a theoretical background already available in the discipline of religious studies. This brief article seeks to open the path for further examination of the place of “atheism” in antiquity based on the problem of applying the term with its modern content and meaning to the ancient world. Even though this study is not exhaustive by all means, its aim is alerting both classicists and historians of religion of the pitfalls neatly hidden behind the scholarly tools often adopted for the description of practices, beliefs, and movements in the ancient world.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Religionswissenschaft

Journal

Ciências da Religião: história e sociedade

Band

12

Seiten

224-241

Anzahl der Seiten

17

ISSN

1678-5274

Publikationsdatum

2014

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

603901 Atheismus, 601001 Alte Geschichte, 603908 Religionsgeschichte

Schlagwörter

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/ancient-greek-atheism-a-note-on-terminological-anachronisms-in-the-study-of-ancient-greek-religion(fee12514-dc27-4186-997a-8daf6ab6d301).html