Description

The interpretatio of deities is a cultural phenomenon, which is grounded in the well-studied trade and colonisation activities by Greek poleis and the formation of the Roman empire. This phenomenon is traditionally viewed as an expression of the self-acculturation of indigenous groups and as a means of systematically homogenising diversity. The papers in this volume seek more complex and nuanced perspectives based on detailed contextual analyses. They present detailed studies of different features of this vast field of trans-cultural interpretation of Phoenician, Greek and Roman deities in the first millennium BC, ranging from Heracles to Aphrodite and spanning geographically from the Levant to the Iberian peninsula Each case-study focuses on the particular implementation process and evaluates it on its own terms, within its own individual context. This volume originates in a workshop held at the University of Bochum, Kate Hamburger Kolleg at the Center for Religious Studies Dynamics in the History of Religions, in 2010. It comprises seven studies, written by leading scholars as well as junior researchers of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology.