Toward a Typology of Greek Regulations about Religious Matters

Abstract

The collections of “sacred laws” made by Sokolowski and Lupu are valuable resources for the study of Greek religion but do not classify the different types of documents by legal criteria. This essay proposes to classify the documents in these collections according to the legal authorities that enacted them: federal bodies in charge of international shrines, city-states, sub-divisions of the polis (demes, tribes), private associations (phratries, gene, orgeones, etc.) and donations to public authorities and private groups. It also draws attention to the different means of enforcing Greek norms about religious practices. Finally, it discusses the meaning of the phrase ta patria and its relationship to the different levels of religious authority.