Symposium
"Our archives are bursting at the seams with powers, deities, gods, big ones, small ones, obese ones, obscene ones, terrible ones, lousy ones, all kinds, all colors, funny, pitiful, transcendent, plump. Gods in shambles, a rapidly expanding population. They're being made everywhere, all the time
In 1988, Marcel Detienne introduced a comparative dossier entitled "What is a god? The question posed on that occasion, ti theos? , finds its indigenous formulation in ancient Greece in a fragment of Pindar. In 2010, Albert Henrichs took up the question, acknowledging three fundamental characteristics of Hellenic theoi: immortality, anthropomorphism and power.
Can we be satisfied with this answer, or do we need to pursue the question? In the historiography of the definition of the "god" considered in polytheistic circles, the notion of "divine power" comes to the fore, following the work of Jean-Pierre Vernant and in contrast to the generalized application of the notion of "person" to the deities of the Greek world. In this search for the specificity of the divine figure, we must also take into account the studies that have since pointed out the limits of anthropomorphism. In our desire to take up Pindar's question and once again place the god, the goddess, the gods, theos and deus, thea and dea, at the center of a common reflection, the comparative perspective is twofold: definition by contrast with the figure of the hero and that of the mortal, and differential comparison with the gods in other ancient religions, while taking into account the discursive and iconographic forms that make a divinity appear as such. The aim is to take stock of recent investigations and open up new avenues of research on this crucial question for the history of ancient religions.
Practical information
Organizers :Claude Calame, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Gabriella Pironti
Venue :Collège de France, Room 4
Free but compulsoryregistration:registration is now closed
