Memory and religious experience in the Greco-Roman world

Abstract

The concepts of memory and experience have stimulated interest in a wide range of recent cultural studies. In the history of scholarship on religion in Mediterranean antiquity, scholars have focused on the emotional dimension of both terms by employing the concepts of ‚Christianity‘ and its derivative, ‚oriental religion‘. Only recently analyses in this field started focusing on interaction and individual experience. Research initiatives at Palermo and Erfurt have taken up this lead and brought together a group of scholars testing such approaches for new perspectives on the history of religion in the Greek and Roman world. This volume reviews the cognitive and emotional dimensions of such experiences in their diverse local, social, and ritual contexts. Memory likewise opens a window onto the interaction of individual and society. Contributions address the individual processes of memorialization and remembrance. They analyse the collective evocation of memories and their shaping of individual memory.