(Ψυχή; Psychḗ). [German version] [1] Lover of Amor Female protagonist in the novella Psyche et Cupido embedded in Apuleius' (Ap(p)uleius [III]) Metamorphoses (Apul. Met. 4,28-6,24). P., a royal princess, is honoured throughout the world by virtue of her extraordinary beauty as a new Venus. Thus spurned and thereby enraged, the true goddess Venus sends her son Cupid/Amor (Eros [1]) to punish P.; Cupid, however, falls in love with her. As P.'s singularity makes it impossible to find her a husband, her father consults the …

[German version] A. Concept of the soul In order to understand the concept and the theory of the soul ('psychology': λόγος/ lógos, 'theory', from ψυχή/ psychḗ, 'soul') in Graeco-Roman Antiquity, it is important to distinguish between two ways of perceiving the soul: the soul as an essential component of a human being, as the subject of thinking and feeling, which controls one's behaviour, and the soul as the general quality that infuses a living thing with life. The first view is based on the perception of the soul ( psychḗ) as an individual's shadowy doppelgänger, which separates itself…

[German version] Is there an ancient equivalent to the modern concept of a 'person', and are there parallels to the characteristics associated with 'being a person'? As asked in modern contexts, the question of personhood includes further issues. Is a person's essential self based on their biological makeup or their psychological characteristics (Am I my body or my spirit?)? Is 'being a person' independent of social class, gender and perhaps species (Are animals persons?)? In ancient thought, an important issue was was whether a human being was essentially a ψυχή/ psychḗ, 'soul' (sep…

(εἴδωλον; eídōlon, Lat. idolum, picture, image, delusion). [German version] [1] Refers to a smaller-than-life-portrait Refers to a smaller-than-life portrait (cf. the votive gift of a female statue in Delphi, in Hdt. 1,51). Kunz, Heike (Tübingen) [German version] [2] Refers to a delusion in Greek mythology In Greek mythology, esp. in Homer, eidolon refers to a delusion (Hom. Il. 5,449), but especially to the soul of the deceased in Hades (Hom. Od. 11,213; Il. 23,104; the eidolon is disembodied but still has the shape of the living person: Hom. Il. 23,107). In pictorial…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The concept of time in cuneiform cultures is characterized by cyclic and linear rhythms, ideas of beginning and end, before and after, repetition and change, progress, past, present, future, and 'eternity'/perpetuity. All these aspects can be grasped both notionally and conceptually in the transmitted sources, but are not the subject of a systematic, theoretical discourse. The languages of the cuneiform cultures had several means available to describe events, circum…

[German version] (Ἄβαρις). Mythical figure derived from the cult of Apollo, formed on the model of shamanistic miracle-working priests [1; 2; 3; 4]. Dated by Pindar in the time of Croesus (fr. 270 Maehler), also dated earlier by other authors [5. 16]. According to Hdt. 4,36 A., coming from the imaginary northern land of the  Hyperborei, carried the spear of  Apollo around Greece, without partaking of any food. He prophesied in a state of divine possession (Lycurg. fr. 86 = Orat. Att. p. 271 Baiter…

[German version] (Μιλησιακά; Milēsiaká). Title of a work by one Aristides [2] with the epithet ‘of Miletus’ (his actual origin is unknown). The text is not extant; all we know for certain is that it had an obscene character. The ancient references are difficult to interpret and do not allow precise categorization: it may have been a novel [1] or, as is more widely accepted, a collection of novellas, possibly integrated into a framework structure. Modern literary studies favour the latter hypothesis, which was forcefully argued by E. Rohde [3; 4]. This is linked to a wider use of the term Milēsi…

[German version] I. Term and genre In antiquity the folk-tale as a well-defined literary genre with unequivocally established terminology was not known. However, since oral narratives, partly put down in writing, that according to the modern meaning of the term can undoubtedly be designated as folk-tales, existed in all ages and all cultures, the issue of the folk-tale becomes a meaningful and inevitable subject also with regard to antiquity. The German word ‘Märchen’ is derived from OHG māri, MHG diu/daz maere = ‘report’, ‘message’, i.e. ‘narrative’, still entirely in the …

[German version] In Greek religion enthusiasm (ἐνθουσιασμός/ enthousiasmós) refers to being taken by a higher power, usually personified by the gods (cf. θειασμός/ theiasmós, ‘inspiration’; ἔνθεος/ éntheos, ‘possessed by god’). The individual leaves an ordinary state and enters one that is determined from without and strange, to being no longer ‘him- or herself’ (ἔκστασις/ ékstasis; cf.  Ecstasy). What humans achieve in this state, which is experienced as paranormal, is god-given (cf. Heraclitus [1] fr. 22 B 92; B 93 DK;  Pythia [1]). How this possession ( katokōchḗ, Pl. Phdr. 24…

[German version] (Θαλῆς; Thalês). One of the Seven Sages, philosopher, astronomer and mathematician, said to be the founder of the Milesian School, 1st half of 6th cent. BC. Some anecdotes about T. survive, but no reliable biographical information. He is said to have travelled in Egypt. To what extent his erudition was influenced by the Near East is unknown. The ancient sources disagree as to whether T. recorded his theories in writing. Those who argue for it name the titles of three works: Ναυτικὴ ἀστρολογία ( Nautikḕ astrología, 'Nautical Astronomy', in hexameters), Περὶ τροπῆς ( Perì t…

[German version] A. Greek (CT) “What Schole-boy, what apprentice knows not Heliodorus?” [20]. Exaggerated as this assessment from England at the beginning of the 17th cent. may seem, it demonstrates the author's special position within the ancient genre and the rapid spread of his fame after the beginning of his reception in Central and Western Europe. The groundwork for the exceptional status accorded him and his work, the Aethiopica, was laid in Byzantium by the influential  legend of his elevation to the bishopric of Tricca, and by revaluation of the text on…

[German version] Martianus Minneus Felix Capella, author of a Latin encyclopaedic work in 9 bks. called De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii (‘Philologia's wedding with Mercury), which he dedicated to his son [11. 1], originated from Carthage, according to the subscriptions of the MSS. Several remarks in the work (Mart. Cap. §§ 577, 999) suggest he may have been a lawyer. Today, the period of composition is thought to lie in the 420s [3. 98-111] or (rather) around AD 470 [2. 309f.; 11. 21-28; cf. also 14. 165], writt…

(ἀρετή/ aretḗ; 'fitness', 'excellence'; Latin virtus). [German version] A. Archaic Period The term ‘virtue’ has pre-philosophical and philosophical meanings. Pre-philosophical conceptions (in, for example, Greek epic and Archaic elegy, historiography and the Attic orators) correspond to a heroic and political ethics, whose main characteristics are practical wisdom and courage as well as the pursuit of fame and the avoidance of shame. On the other hand, the Delphic Maxims, ascribed to the Seven Sages, proclaim ‘know yourself’, ‘nothing to excess’. The transformation from un…

[German version] Views about what awaits humans after death exist in most cultures. In the Graeco-Roman world, they were found in literature and art, in philosophical reflection, theological propaganda and, not least, in epitaphs; yet the literary and philosophical opinions in themselves are more coherent than the everyday concepts expressed in the epitaphs. It must also be emphasized that it is difficult to discern a strong connection between concepts of the afterlife and funerary rites, in the s…

[German version] (ἡ ψυχή/ psychḗ, literally ‘soul’ e.g. in Aristot. Hist. an. 5,19,551a 14; νύμφη/ nýmphē, literally ‘young girl’ in Aristot. Gen. an. 3,9,758b 33; Lat. papilio and papiliunculus in Tert. De anima 32). Butterflies and moths is the collective term for the insect order of the Lepidoptera. Despite their certainly large spread in the Mediterranean region, they were not often recorded in scientific treatises in antiquity. Aristot. Hist. an. 5,551a 13-27 (cf. Aristot. Gen. an. 1,18,723b 5f. and 2,1,733b 13-16) correctly assigns them to the insects (ἔντομα/ éntoma, cf. In…

Hinz, Berthold (Kassel RWG) [German version] A. Middle Ages (CT) Both Greek and Roman art is rich in erotic themes and objects of all kinds.  They are found in a multitude of genres and modes of expression, from large-scale sculpture, painting and mosaics to craft products and finally small art objects (e.g. gems and cameos). When the triumph of Christianity brought an end to the eroticism of ancient art, the world of erotic imagery also disappeared from the light of day. Objects of this kind were, of cou…

[English version] The term 'oratorio' denotes very diverse musical works, whose commonality can be expressed as follows:  major vocal compositions with instrumental accompaniment, depicting a plot of usually sacred subject matter, intended for unstaged and extra-liturgical performance. In the context of the reception of Antiquity, three elements are of interest: the beginnings of the oratorio in 17th-cent. Italy, 18th-cent. efforts at reform and the choosing (albeit infrequent) of ancient materials. The term 'oratorio' derives from the Ecclesiastical Latin name fo…

[German version] (γνῶσις or ἐπιστήμη ἑαυτοῦ/ gnôsis or epistḗmē heautoû; Latin notitia, cognitio sui; noscere/cognoscere seipsum). The philosophical and popular conceptions of self-knowledge throughout antiquity often refer explicitly to the precept inscribed above the temple of Apollo in Delphi (Delphi, Oracles): 'know thyself' (γνῶθι σ[ε]αυτόν/ gnôthi s[e]autón); the precise date of origin of that inscription, however, is uncertain. The oldest testimony is Soph. fr. 509 P. (θνητὰ φρονεῖν χρὴ θνητὴν φύσιν/ thn ētà phroneîn chrḕ thnētḕn phýsin, "the mortal soul must thin…

[German version] (θεουργία/ t heourgía), from Greek 'divine' ( theîos) and 'work' ( érgon): 'divinely oriented actions'. During the first few cents. AD, there arose a number of religious movements that combined elements of Platonic philosophy, practices drawn from traditional cult, and newer doctrines that adherents claimed were revealed to them directly by the gods. One of the most influential of these movements was Theurgie, which emphasized worshipping the gods through ritual. Theurgie was said to have been founded by a certain Julian, who came to be known as 't…

(Εὐρώπη; Eurṓpē). [German version] [1] Geographic concept Originally reserved for the female mythological figure ( E. [2]; cf. Hes. Theog. 357, 359), as a geographical term E. initially referred to central Greece (cf. Hom. H. ad Apollinem 251, 291) and the Thracian-Macedonian north (cf. Hdt. 6,43; 7,8), as opposed to the Peloponnese in the south, the Ionian Islands in the west and the Aegean islands, and separated from the Asiatic land-mass by the Aegean Sea, the Hellespont, Propontis, the Bosporus and Pontus Euxinus. As awareness grew during the ‘great colonisation’ that the…

[German version] [1] Poet of epigrams of unknown dating Epigram poet of an unknown period (with a peculiar, otherwise undocumented name), author of an insignificant distich on Hesiod (Anth. Pal. 7,52). Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography FGE 38. [German version] [2] Union of craftsmen and officials Dēmiourgoí (δημιουργοί, ‘public workers’) were occupied with public matters at various levels, depending on time and place. 1. In the Linear B tablets from Pylos dḗmos is found but not demiourgoi; it has been suggested [2] but not universally accepted that in the Mycenaean world demiourgoi…

(Δάρδανος; Dárdanos). [German version] [1] Son of Zeus Son of Zeus, who of all his mortal sons loved this one the most (Hom. Il. 20,215; 304), and either a mortal mother or the Atlantid Electra/Elektryone (Hes. fr. 177/80 MW; Hellanic. FGrH 4 F 23). Eponymous hero of the  Dardani, who lived on Mt Ida, and in Homer are linked with the Trojans and frequently synonymous with them. D. is the progenitor of the Trojan ruling dynasty. Possibly mentioned in the Ilioupersis, he originates from Arcadia, where he is supposed to have been born in a cave (Ilioupersis fr. 1 PEG I; Str. 8…

(Πλωτῖνος; Plōtînos). Greek philosopher, founder of Neoplatonism. [German version] A. Life P. was born in AD 205 (in the 13th year of the rule of Septimius Severus) and died in 270 at the age of 66 (Porph. Vita Plotini 2,34). His ethnic origin is difficult to determine. Eunapius (p. 456 Boissonnade) lists as his place of birth Lycon in Egypt (the town has been identified as Lyconpolis). The information is problematic because according to Porphyrius P. kept his place of birth secret. Proclus (Platonis Theol…

Naumer, Sabine [German version] A. Subject (CT) The vase (Latin: vas = vessel, dish, implement; pl. vasa = household appliance, household), which today is understood as a decorative vessel, particularly a flower vase, fulfilled a variety of tasks in Antiquity with a corresponding variety of shapes, sizes and materials (stone, metal, ceramic) as well as decorations (unpainted, painted, relief). In this broad definition, vases are ubiquitous in all cultures since the Stone Age; the following deals exclusively wit…

Plebeian gentile name (on form and distribution [1], ThLL 2, 291). The poet  Apuleius [III, of Madaura] I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] A. Real-estate dealer (1st cent. BC) Late Republican real-estate dealer ( praediator) (Cic. Att. 5,11,16; 12,4,2; 12,17). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] A. Proscribed in 43 BC Proscribed in 43 BC but escaped (App. B Civ. 4,166). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Schulze, 427. [German version] [I 3] A., L. People's tribune in 391 BC People's tribune in 391 BC, whose complaint supposedly caused M…

[German version] I. Definition The term ‘novels’ and ‘romance’ are not ancient, but the latter dates from the Middle Ages, when it denoted a work written in the Romance vernacular. There was no specific term for the genre in Antiquity ( drâma was common in Greek [1], fabula, in Latin, Apul. Met. 1.1, or argumentum, Macrob. Sat. In Somn. 1,2,8). Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) II. Greek [German version] A. Overview and development of the genre In Greek literature, ‘novel’ denotes a series of texts of fiction, in prose, linked through two basic thematic features (love and a…

Vainio, Raija (Turku RWG) [German version] A. General (CT) Until 1809 Finland (F.) was part of the Swedish Kingdom. It was then incorporated into Czarist Russia as an autonomous state until it gained its independence in 1917. Vainio, Raija (Turku RWG) B. The Reception of Classical Antiquity (CT) [German version] 1. Literature (CT) With the exception of the work being conducted on Antiquity in universities, the Finnish culture, in comparison with many other European countries, has been far less influenced by the ancient world. German Romanticism, h…

Hager, Fritz-Peter (Zürich RWG) [German version] A. Definition (CT) Pedagogy is the science of education and schooling ( Education/Culture). It can comprise philosophical, theological or empirical theories of education and erudition (associated with psychological or sociological research). In correspondence with fundamental pedagogical topics and problems, pedagogy refers to the nature and aims of education, its methods, tools and measures, its contents and approaches, as well as its anthropological and ideological foundations. Hager, Fritz-Peter (Zürich RWG) …

Müller-Richter, Klaus (Tübingen RWG) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) A phenomenon of the second half of the 19th cent. that followed out of the aesthetic re-orientation of the French Décadence  movement, the Fin de siècle (FdS) literary period encompassed a paradigmatic re-evaluation of the largely uniform conception of Antiquity that practitioners of French and German Classicism, and most notably among them Goethe and Winckelmann, had established and which had continued to persist in broad sections of established, offici…

(Οἰδίπους/ Oidípous, Lat. Oedipus). [German version] A. Oedipus in myth and drama O., son of King Laius [1] and Iocasta/Epicasta, is the central figure in the Theban myths [7; 16. 492ff.; 28]. The name O. has a meaning ('swollen foot') that can be interpreted in different ways [5; 10. 233ff.]. The myth explains the name with the motif of O.'s ankle, which was pierced at the time of his abandonment (Soph. OT 1032ff.; Eur. Phoen. 26f.; Apollod. 3,5,7: Exposure, myths and legends of). O.'s patricide and incest…

Mašek, Miro (Hamburg RWG) [German version] A. Middle Ages (CT) Before the Gothic invasion, the provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia were numbered among the more advanced parts of the Roman Empire. Evidence from this period includes numerous ancient monuments in the area now known as Croatia (C.). As a result of the split-up of the later Roman Empire, Southern Europe was divided into two linguistic domains: one Greek and one Latin; however, in the Adriatic towns that belonged to Byzantium, Greek was used par…

[English version] Basic aesthetic and moral questions are centered in the concept of taste as the expression of the ability to make aesthetic judgment. To be sure, in urbanitas, understood as the cultured person's way of living and his attitude to life, Antiquity already knew two designations for taste: sensus (Cic. Orat. 162), the innate organ of perception, common to all human beings and receptive to beauty, and iudicium (Cic. Orat. 36), the culturally determined ability to judge based on education and sharpened intellect, individual and subjectively distinct.…

škoviera, Daniel [German version] A. Introduction (CT) With the exception of the castellum Gerulata (modern Rusovce), the territory of what is now Slovakia (S.) lay in terra barbarica. Military outposts ensured the Roman Empire of some influence in terms of exercising power (CIL III 13439: inscriptions in the castle rock at Trenčín: Victoriae Augustoru(m) exercitus, (q)ui Laugaricione sedit, mil(ites) l(egionis) II DCCCLV), but the intellectual culture of the pre-Slavic population was not influenced by contacts with the Roman province of Pannonia. škoviera, Daniel B. Culture a…

[German version] A. Definition, names The term Gnosticism that is common today in the German-speaking areas (γνῶσις; gnôsis, ‘insight, knowledge’) has to a large extent superseded the older term ‘Gnosticism’ that is, however, used in English and French. It goes back to the early Christian period (1. Tim 6, 20; Iren. Adversus haereses I, 6.2) and has a heresiological meaning; its representatives are called ‘Gnostics’ (γνωστικοί; gnōstikoí, Iren. Adversus haereses I, 2.1), i.e. people who represent and disseminate particular ‘insights’ and also ways of behaving …

I. Greece [German version] A. Terminology In ancient Greek, the term phýsis (φύσις, ‘nature’) is a nomen actionis derived from the root * bhu- (which probably implies the idea of coming into being, growth and development). It first of all denotes the state that results from the spontaneous development of a living being: hence the meanings of ‘size’, ‘stature’, or ‘appearance’, all of which point towards the more general meaning of ‘innate bodily characteristics’. Phýsis is thus opposed to téchnē (τέχνη, art), which refers to any competence acquired in various domains of human activity. P…

[German version] A. Conceptual introduction and historical overview By his biological nature, man is a 'political animal' (πολιτικὸν ζῷον/ politikón zôion: Aristot. Pol. 1253a 3). But it was not until the Neolithic Revolution (beginning c. 10,000 BC) that centres of power emerged, leading to the formation of states [1]. Since these were created by human beings, they reflected human thought, a 'political theory', which in earliest times was primarily mythopoetic in nature [2; 3]. After scholarly prose had emerged in…

[German version] A. Definition The ancient concept of rationality cannot be tied to a single Greek or Latin term. First of all it must be distinguished from modern notions. The modern mind - both in general and in the sciences - is moulded by technological, economic, and administrative structures, and tends to equate rationality with 'goal-oriented rationality' (a rationality which focuses on means to reach a purpose). Given M. Weber's sociological distinction between goal-oriented, value-oriented, …

(Πορφύριος; Porphýrios), Neoplatonist philosopher and scholar. [German version] A. Life P. ( c. AD 234 -305/310) came from a wealthy family of Phoenician Tyre (Tyrus). Nothing is known of his childhood. At Athens he studied mathematics under Demetrius, grammar with Apollonius, rhetoric with Minucianus and especially philology, literary criticism and philosophy with the great scholar Longinus [1], a representative of Middle Platonism. Possibly on Longinus' recommendation, P. left Athens in 263 to join the sc…

Schlesier, Renate (Paderborn) A. Therapeutic Method and Scientific Theory (CT) [German version] 1. Freud (CT) The term 'psychoanalysis' was invented in 1896 by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) [3], initially as a designation for the 'cathartic' method of "rendering conscious the hitherto unconscious" (“Bewußtbarmarchung des bisher Unbewußten”) [4. 381], which he first practised (together with Joseph Breuer [25]) in treating hysteria. From the application of this method it emerged that pathological symptoms of psychon…

Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) [German version] A. Antiquity and Middle Ages (CT) The following article is only concerned with the performance of plays by the three main Greek tragedians and the various tendencies of their productions in modern times. It is not possible in this context to deal with adaptations, new arrangements or reworkings, nor with the reception of Greek tragedy as a whole in the history of European cultural and intellectual history. The seminal year marking a decisive change in the practice of performing dramatic plays in Athens was 386 BC, bec…

Guthmüller, Bodo (Marburg/Lahn RWG) I. Literature (CT) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) In the Encyclopédie of the French Enlightenment (1751-1780) we read in the entry 'mythology' ( mythologie, fable): "The study of mythology is indispensable for painters, sculptors and particularly for poets. Mythology is the foundation of their works and from it they draw their principal ornaments (...). Our theatre plays and operas, all genres of literature constantly make allusions to mythology; the engravings, paintings and stat…

[German version] I. History Stoicism was an intellectual movement rooted in an Athenian school of philosophy founded by Zeno [2] of Citium in the late 4th cent. BC; it took its name from the place where Zeno's lessons were held, the Stoá Poikílē ('painted collonade', Stoa [1]), and developed most significantly by its next two leaders, Cleanthes [2] of Assus and Chrysippus [2] of Soli. It flourished primarily within the context of the school at Athens until the sack of the city by Roman forces in 86 BC; besides Athens, Rhodes was also an…

[German version] A. Definition Since K. Praechter, Middle Platonism has been the term for the period of ancient Platonism from the return of the Platonic Academy to dogmatism under Antiochus [20] of Ascalon (died 69 BC) until the beginning of Neoplatonism under Plotinus (died 270 AD; Dogmatists [1]; Neoplatonists). The term is modern, but the periodization is ancient in as far as the Neoplatonists themselves distinguished between the ‘old exegetes’ before Plotinus and the ‘new ones’ (Procl. in Pl. …

[German version] A. General After a person's death the treatment and taking of his body to a particular place called grave ( Funerary architecture), mostly connected with death rituals. Burial customs varied depending on the society's religious concepts and particularly the concepts of  afterlife and the (social) status of the deceased or those organizing the burial. The main types of burial are inhumation or cremation (ash burial). There is also evidence of individual cases from the Neolithic Peri…

Krovoza, Alfred [German version] A. Prefatory Remarks (CT) Any discussion of the mnemonic tradition, i.e. its reception history, faces a dilemma. The narrow definition - an established standard in textbooks - as a mental technique to generate memoria artificialis or to optimise memoria naturalis for rhetorical practice in an oral culture (see below) excludes the greatest part of its influence, as seminal studies of the material have revealed. A wider definition, however, risks conflating mnemonics with memory in general and its manifold …

Schlesier, Renate (Paderborn) Cultural anthropology (CT) [German version] 1. Differences in Terms (CT) The noun ‘cultural anthropology’ (CA) and even more so the adjective related to it, cultural anthropological, is one of the terms that, of the current descriptions for academic disciplines, is most dependent on context. What is to be understood in each case by the term depends on the respective context of the academic traditions, disciplines and methods, which vary from nation to nation, within which it is used; its meaning can therefore diverge considerably. Schlesier, Renate (P…

Mohr, Hubert A. Concept and Theory (CT) [German version] 1. Concept (CT) Paganism is the modern, scholarly term for the intentional resumption ('reception') and resurgence ('revitalisation', 'reconstruction') of ancient, or ethnic, religious traditions or of their constituent parts (cults, myths, symbols), insofar as these occurred outside of Christianity and Judaism, and opposed the two. The underlying concept of Judeo-Christian polemic, 'heathenism', should be distinguished from the religious-historical …

Mergenthaler, Volker [German version] I. Definition and Systematization (CT) Economically, advertizing denotes an instrument of a company's marketing policy; from the viewpoint of communications theory, it is a specific practice of the communicative use of signs. It has an ulterior goal, viz. to strengthen the advertized product's position in the market. In more recent times, this exclusively or predominantly heteronomous determination of advertizing has been qualified with a view to its artistic charact…

[German version] I. Earliest Evidence The earliest evidence for Orphism refers to texts or ritual activities. Calame, Claude (Lausanne) [German version] A. Texts (see II below). Earliest evidence for Orphic texts: Eur. Hipp. 952-954 = Orphica Fragmenta (= OF) T 213 Kern “(Hippolytus), who honours the smoke of many writings ( grámmata)”, under Orpheus as his master; Pl. Resp. 364e = OF 3: “a pile of books (bíbloi)”, attributed to Musaeus [1] and Orpheus and offered by charlatans and soothsayers to wealthy citizens. Calame, Claude (Lausanne) [German version] B. Ritual activity (see III …

[German version] I. Typology To create a typology of the kiss in antiquity seems rather difficult, given its many specifications, of which the erotic kiss represents no more than a single facet. Existing approaches barely go beyond collections of material [1; 2; 3]. As far as tradition permits, two main categories can be distinguished: formal kisses (in politics; client relations; cult, religion) and private kisses (in family, kinship, friendship; love relations). Within these main categories and th…