Writing to the Gods? Archaic votives, inscribed and uninscribed

Whitley, James ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9645-0505 2024. Writing to the Gods? Archaic votives, inscribed and uninscribed. Haysom, Matthew, Mili, Maria and Wallensten, Jenny, eds. The Stuff of the Gods: The material aspects of religion in ancient Greece, Vol. 59. Swedish Institute at Athens, pp. 193-213. (10.30549/actaath-4-59-14)

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Abstract

Every Classical scholar interested in Greek religion is familiar with the ἀνέθηκε (ανεθεκε) formula, where X dedicates Y to a deity. But it is wrong to think that what is familiar is what we fully understand. Not all votives were so inscribed, or even inscribed at all, and the ἀνέθηκε formula was by no means universal across the Greek-speaking Mediterranean in the Archaic period. In this paper I explore what factors might have led to a votive being inscribed, and to look at whether inscriptions made any difference as to how votives were used and valued. Were inscribed votives in use for longer, or did they remain visible for longer, than uninscribed ones? This paper will adopt a contextual approach to an examination of the contexts in which such objects were used and found. It will take as its starting point the idea that writing is there to inscribe agency (sensu Gell 1998) in both a literal and a metaphorical sense. It will concentrate on the evidence from Olympia between 800 and 420 BC, with a particular focus on dedications of armour and weapons (which can sometimes be grouped into trophies). It will also look at other factors that may have affected a votive’s use and longevity (exotic origins, and other, non-Greek inscriptions).

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Publisher:	Swedish Institute at Athens
ISBN:	978-91-7916-068-5
ISSN:	0586-0539
Last Modified:	24 Jun 2024 10:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169696

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