Abstract
Many different types of public inscriptions in ancient Greece included the word theoi, "gods", as heading. Long noted, this heading has also long been passed over, usually considered so formulaic as to lack much significance. Yet this divine invocation was more varied and complex than is often supposed: through a systematic analysis of the theoi and theos headings from the Archaic and Classical periods, this seminar will explore the consequences of taking theoi seriously as a reference to the divine. It will discuss the heading's presentation, the connotations it came to carry over time, and its relationship to agathē tychē, another popular inscriptional heading. Paying attention to the materiality of the inscribed texts that include theoi and theos, and the undetermined nature of these headings as divine names, will allow us to re-examine the purpose and meaning of these divine headings.
