| A key aspect of Athenian religion in its relationship to the polis are the many Athenian 'state' priesthoods, which, uniquely among Athenian 'offices', were held by women as well as men. My objective is to improve our understanding both of the formal, institutional, roles and functions of priests in the polis and its subgroups, and of their socio-political position more broadly, looking in particular at the apparently democratising shift from appointment of 'state' priests by gene (groups of archaic origin based on real or fictional kinship) to, in the case of priesthoods created after about the middle of the 5th century, appointment from all Athenians. I am approaching the subject in the first place by an examination of the concept of 'state' cult, including preparation of a catalogue of such cults as defined by various criteria and of information about their priesthoods (methods of appointment, individual priests etc.). This entails collection and analysis of a wide range of sources, including, most notably, Attic inscriptions. |
