Ethnological Research, No. 16, 2011.
Professional paper
Emotion and Identity in Connection with Greek Death-Cult, Modern and Ancient
Evy Johanne Håland
; Bergen, Norveška
Abstract
The article examines emotion and identity in connection with Greek death-cult in
an attempt to clarify certain contemporary political phenomena in the Mediterranean
area. The cult of the dead is a common cultural pattern in the area. Why is
this cult so persistent? What is death-cult and how does it manifest itself? The article
delves into its lasting importance in the Greek part of the cultural area, where
the author has conducted several fieldworks. To illustrate the persistence of this
cultural pattern, the characteristic aspects connected with death-cult in Greek tradition
are discussed: The comparison is based on festivals, which are dedicated to
deceased persons and domestic death-rituals combined with ancient sources. Based
on them an analytical survey of the relationship between the death-cult dedicated
to deceased mediators in ancient and modern society, as it is manifested through
laments, burials and the following memorial rituals is made. The modern domestic
rituals people perform for their own dead influence the official ideological rituals,
and vice versa, the domestic rituals reflect public performances. A study of
modern cult practices reveals many parallels with the official cult of the ancients,
and suggests ways in which modern rituals can throw new light upon the ancient
rituals and vice versa. The article seeks to demonstrate how new ideologies must
adjust to older rituals and beliefs and how public and domestic rituals are connected.
The article finally suggests how these similarities might represent a common
way of expression within a larger context in which the Mediterranean cultural
meaning of emotion is central.
Keywords
emotion, identity; death-cult; burial customs; Greece
Hrčak ID:
77036
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2011.
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