On the Problematic Nature of the Concept of “Greek Shamanism”
Loading...
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
St Petersburg State University
Abstract
The notion of ‘shamanism’ began to penetrate into classical studies from the 19th century
onwards. Legendary and real-life figures such as Orpheus, Aristeas, and Epimenides began
to be declared shamans. Gradually it came to philosophers such as Pythagoras, Parmenides,
Empedocles, and Socrates. Then Odysseus, and Jason joined the list, and recently Christ,
and Mohammed have been added to it. Today the idea of “Greek shamanism” is so firmly
rooted in many works that one might get the impression that it has a sound evidential basis. However, a critical examination of the studi es in which this idea has been actively
disseminated for more than a hundred years has revealed the groundlessness of the concept
of “Greek shamanism”. Many arguments, due to the authority of their authors, were
simply copied from one work to another without being questioned or verified. The present
work attempts to look deep into the methodological foundations and intentions of different
authors, who liked this concept, and see whether the use of the notion of “Greek shamanism”
leads to any positive and productive conclusions. It seems that the transfer of the concept
of “shamanism” to the Ancient Greek religious substratum does not bring anything
useful to the understanding of religious phenomena of the Ancient Greek religion, and,
therefore, it should be abandoned. As an alternative approach it is proposed to clearly define
the concept of “shamanism” and its cultural, geographical, and historical framework, which
manages to do with the original ethnographic material.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Afonasina A. S. On the Problematic Nature of the Concept of “Greek Shamanism”. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 2024, vol. 40, issue 3, pp. 473–485. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2024.309 (In Russian)