The Greek shamans, the Scythian Psychonauts and the Spirit of Eranos
The paper provides a critical review of the influential theory on shamanistic elements in the religion of the ancient Greeks of the archaic period. The theory was developed during the first half of the 20th century, mainly through the efforts of classical philologists Karl Meuli and E. R. D...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Institute of Ethnography, SASA, Belgrade
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0861/2024/0350-08612403091P.pdf |
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| Summary: | The paper provides a critical review of the influential theory on shamanistic
elements in the religion of the ancient Greeks of the archaic period. The
theory was developed during the first half of the 20th century, mainly
through the efforts of classical philologists Karl Meuli and E. R. Dodds,
and is based on the thesis that, during the colonization of the Black Sea
coast, the Greeks adopted from the Scythians a specific form of ecstatic
religiosity that was previously unknown to them. Meuli and Dodds
characterized this form of religiosity as shamanistic, recognizing its
patterns in a wide range of Greek mythological and legendary figures and
historical personalities. By analyzing the theoretical premises and
methodological approaches of these scholars, as well as the scientific
community’s feedback, I aim to contextualize the thesis of Greek shamanism
more closely within the intellectual currents of the twentieth century and
earlier periods. My conclusion is that this thesis must be viewed in the
broader context of the desacralization of contemporary society, indicating a
strong interweaving of personal, non-scientific, and religious beliefs with
academic studies of religions. |
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| ISSN: | 0350-0861 2334-8259 |