RELIGIÓN Y RITUALES DE GUERRA EN LA GRECIA ANTIGUA A TRAVÉS DE LAS FUENTES LITERARIAS

Abstract

In Ancient Greece, the life of humans was marked by their relationship with the divinities, both in public and private spheres. This article analyzes the implication of the divinities in the life of individuals through the specific case of war, providing examples that show that warriors were not always responsible for its outcome, nor for what happened in its course. Not complying with the rituals and rules of war implied the reprobation of society, and that of the divinities, who did not hesitate to severely punish transgressions too. We will see how the literary sources evidence the strict and continuous ritualization of each and every of the guidelines of war and that the connection with the gods, unlike the tactics and weaponry, remained unchanged from the seventh century BC onwards, when it is considered that the Homeric poems acquired their final form, until the second century AD, a time that reflects the work by Pausanias.