Greek polytheism, instructions for use

The colourful title of " Greek polytheism, instructions for use " announces my intention to lay down certain methodological foundations for the investigations I shall be pursuing in the years ahead. One of the most widely debated issues in this field is the tension between the general and the particular, between unity and diversity, that characterizes the religious system of the Greeks. Should we speak of Greek religion in the singular or in the plural ? Do divine figures dissolve in the variety of places where they are worshipped, or are we able to attribute to them a specific profile shared on a wider scale ? Are sacrificial acts based solely on strictly local practices, or is there a background common to all Greek communities ? We'll be taking stock of how this specific problem allows us to approach the workings of two of the essential components of Greek polytheism: the representation of the gods and sacrificial approaches.