There’s a certain pleasure in fantasizing about possessing knowledge, especially possessing secret knowledge to which outsiders don’t have access. Such fantasies are typically a source of innocent entertainment. However, under the right conditions, fantasies of knowledge can become epistemically dangerous, because they can generate illusions of genuine knowledge. I argue that this phenomenon helps to explain why some people join and eventually adopt the beliefs of epistemic communities who endorse seemingly bizarre, outlandish claims, such as extreme cults and online conspiracy (...) theory groups. It can be difficult to grasp how members of such groups come to believe the theories they endorse. I argue that one route to such beliefs is via deep absorption in fantasies of knowledge, which can lead entire groups to become collectively detached from reality. (shrink)

Purpose. The research is based on the analysis of the cult of Dionysus: the introspection of the irrational content of the "Dionysian states", in the symbolism of which an alternative scenario of gender relations is codified, based on autonomy and non-destructive interdependence. The achievement of this goal involves, firstly, the "archeology" of telestic madness and orgasm as the liberating states the comprehension of their semantic potential for the outlook of the Dionysian neophyte, and secondly, to identify the features that are (...) likened to the cult community of Dionysus to an autonomous gender and, thirdly, to characterize the metamorphosis of the Dionysian imagery in the postmodern consciousness. Theoretical basis. The study of the symbolism of Dionysus and its Genesis in the processes of the mass consciousness is important to clarify trends in gender distancing as in antiquity and in the modern era. Specific sensory and mental qualities encoded in the images of Dionysian madness, vakhtnag of violence and the eternal alien, the awareness of which is determined by the Dionysian thematizes in the cultural consciousness of post-modernism, the research literature presented in fragments. The phenomenological dimension "exempt States" Dionysian elements, activated the process of social distancing up to the formation of Autonomous gender, are poorly known and basically are reduced to manifestations of marginality and asocial. However, the specifics of the cult of Dionysus, the authors see the origins of ideas about a purely female and male and the dynamics of the transmutations of his imagery is proposed to understand how the successive stages of their formation, not the symptoms of the cultural crisis and deviant behavior. Originality. The article examines the phenomenology of the practice of personality transformation as the psycho-psychological basis of ideas about gender identity. Conclusions. The article highlights the socio-cultural and intrapsychic dimension of the study of the cult of Dionysus. It was established that the perception of a cult alien to ancient consciousness occurred during the crisis of the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy, since its meaning associated with the idea of liberation through personality transformation corresponded to the mental state generated by social isolation of women and had a therapeutic effect. (shrink)

This book focuses on how 'cult rhetoric' affects our perceptions of new religious movements (NRMs). 'Cult' Rhetoric in the 21st Century explores contemporary understandings of the term 'cult' by bringing together a range of scholars from multiple disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, psychology, and religious studies. The book provides a renewed discussion of 'new religious movements', whilst also considering recent approaches toward a nuanced study of contemporary religion. Topics explored include online religions, political 'cults', 'apostate' testimony and the current 'othered' position (...) of the study of minority religions. (shrink)

À travers l’étude du système à effet intégrateur de rituels et de cérémonials célébrant la présidente de l’UFF et de la FDIF Eugénie Cotton, promue en autorité universelle dont les vertus renvoient au modèle marial, le présent travail explore la mise en place dans le monde communiste de la guerre froide du versant féminin du culte du leader. Afin d’en saisir les spécificités par rapport à un phénomène historique dont la riche production historiographique des vingt dernières années consacre naturellement et (...) exclusivement la masculinité, y sont examinés plus particulièrement les circonstances qui lui donnèrent naissance, les temps forts qui scandent son cheminement, les mécanismes de sa diffusion et les glissements genrés opérés dans le processus de son invention. (shrink)

The present essay explores the question of continuity and change between Kaneš and Ḫattuša in the cultic sphere, reviewing the cult of Parga, probably a fertility goddess of local Anatolian origin, in the Hittite sources. It reveals that Parga appears in several different cultic contexts but within a relatively invariable sequence of offerings, often appearing with the same, often “exotic” deities, such as Zūluma, Šišumma/i, and Šurra. The probable location for performance of many of these cultic sequences in the lower (...) town of Ḫattuša, one of the most ancient parts of the city, shows a great deal of continuity between the Old Assyrian and the Old Hittite periods, and may further highlight the antiquity of these cults. Since some of the cultic action considered in this essay took place in close proximity to the ašuša-gate, the evidence concerning the location of that gate, probably at the western or northwestern section of the fortification wall and near some of the institutions located in its vicinity, will be examined. (shrink)

This book presents a study of the cult of saints among Muslims and Jews in medieval Syria and the Near East. Through case studies of saints and their devotees, discussion of the architecture of monuments, examination of devotional objects, and analysis of ideas of ‘holiness’, the book depicts the practices of living religion and explores the common heritage of all three monotheistic faiths. Critical readings of a wide range of contemporary sources — travel writing, geographical works, pilgrimage guides, legal writings, (...) historical sources, hagiography, and biography — reveal a vibrant religious culture in which the veneration of saints and pilgrimage to tombs and shrines were fundamental. (shrink)

The article «The Cults of Nature of the territory between the Dnipro-Danube water basin in the light of modern researhh» by I.Zavaliy is based on the research of leading foreign and domestic scientists consider the issues of pre-Christian spiritual heritage of the territory between the Dnipro- Danube water basin.

What does religion contribute to business ethics? Related to the practical, religion applies theological concepts to business situations; namely, vocation, stewardship, human dignity, co-creation, co-conservation, sharing in God's power, servant leadership, encounter with the Incarnation, sacramental sign and justice (divine and human). These concepts suggest the threefold component of religion: doctrine (creed), worship (cult) and values governing behavior (code). A principle taken from religious practice illustrates its unique contribution to business ethics. The principle of proportionality (or double effect) exemplifies code (...) in its balancing of good and evil outcomes. The more contemporary principle called the fundamental option identifies the role of vocation and calling in the notion of creed. The component cult might be reflected in the insistence on human dignity which is highlighted in papal social teaching. (shrink)

This is the first book to describe and explain all of the ancient world's major mystery cults--one of the most intriguing but least understood aspects of Greek and Roman religion. In the nocturnal Mysteries at Eleusis, participants dramatically re-enacted the story of Demeter's loss and recovery of her daughter Persephone; in the Bacchic cult, bands of women ran wild in the Greek countryside to honor Dionysus; and in the mysteries of Mithras, men came to understand the nature of the universe (...) and their place within it through frightening initiation ceremonies and astrological teachings. These cults were an important part of life in the ancient Mediterranean world, but their actual practices were shrouded in secrecy, and many of their features have remained unclear until now. By richly illustrating the evidence from ancient art and archaeology, and drawing on enlightening new work in the anthropology and cognitive science of religion, Mystery Cults of the Ancient World allows readers to imagine as never before what it was like to take part in these ecstatic and life-changing religious rituals--and what they meant to those who participated in them. Stunning images of Greek painted pottery, Roman frescoes, inscribed gold tablets from Greek and South Italian tombs, and excavated remains of religious sanctuaries help show what participants in these initiatory cults actually did and experienced. A fresh and accessible introduction to a fascinating subject, this is a book that will interest general readers, as well as students and scholars of classics and religion. (shrink)

Le texte traduit ici a été publié dans la Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale en janvier 1901. Il s’agit d’une chronique d’Alain, pseudonyme utilisé par Émile Chartier, dans lequel il cherche à affirmer que la Raison serait l’instrument le plus efficace d’un ordre social donné. La Raison serait donc le vrai Dieu et il serait juste de dire qu’on lui doit un Culte. La traduction a été réalisée par le Groupe de Traduction du Département de Philosophie de l’Université de (...) Brasilia, coordonné par le Professeur Philippe Lacour. Le groupe se propose de traduire régulièrement des ouvrages de philosophie encore inédits en langue portugaise et de les rendre disponibles dans des périodiques en accès libre. Le travail de traduction est produit de manière collaborative via la plate-forme numérique Traduxio (https://traduxio.org/). (shrink)

Origène réplique point par point aux arguments que Celse avait invoqués pour rejeter la caricature du culte des images composée par la polémique chrétienne. Il taxe les philosophes d’inconséquence. Au-delà du pamphlet de Celse, il pourfend une thèse que l’adversaire n’exploitait pas, mais qui était fortrépandue: le culte des statues et des images des dieux aurait une valeur symbolique. Ce symbolisme est attesté chez Plutarque, Dion Chrysostome, Maxime de Tyr, plus tard chez Porphyre. Sa diversité a pour origine la complexité (...) des propos de Platon sur la manière de représenter les dieux. Origène veut dénoncer comme illusoire la signification attribuée à de tels «symboles». Ses propres réflexions dans le Contre Celse leur opposent une conception du «symbole» qui, tout en insistant sur sa matérialité, sa visibilité, son historicité, le distingue de l’«image» mimétique, pour l’orienter vers autre chose que lui. Cette distinction est peut-être à méditer, aux sources de la doctrine ultérieure de l’icône, dont ce «symbole»-là serait un précurseur. (shrink)

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, (...) a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 5 focuses on the cults of Hermes, Dionysos, Hestia, Hephaistos, Ares and several minor figures. (shrink)

Le culte d’Osiris au 1er millénaire av. J.-C.: Découverts et travaux récents. Edited by Laurent Coulon. Bibliothèque d’Étude, vol. 153. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2010. Pp. x + 322, illus..

Cult Criminals is a set of early Victorian novels 'sensationally' popular with readers and of immense influence in the development of the novel form. All six novels, commonly labelled 'Newgate' novels, scandalized the Victorians by glamorizing criminals and led to a bitter literary controversy between Dickens and Thackeray, who damned the former's Oliver Twist as a 'Newgate' novel. At the heart of the 'Newgate' debate lay questions concerning the moral and social function of the novel, the relationship between romance and (...) realism in fiction, and whether crime should be portrayed in fiction at all. The Newgate novels function as a bridge between the eighteenth- century tradition of crime fiction and the detective and crime novels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as encapsulating many of the social and cultural shifts that took place in the early Victorian period. (shrink)

One of the central places in the cult of the Catholic Church is the virgin Mary, the Virgin. She is revered as a woman who gave life to the son of God Jesus Christ and brought him up.

Name der Zeitschrift: Klio Jahrgang: 98 Heft: 2 Seiten: 495-525.

Description: The common western understanding of Buddhism today envisions this major world religion as one of compassion and tolerance. But as the author Droit reveals, this view bears little resemblance to one broadly held in the nineteenth-century European philosophical imagination that saw Buddhism as a religion of annihilation calling for the destruction of the self. The Cult of Nothingness traces the history of the western discovery of Buddhism. In so doing, the author shows that such major philosophers as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, (...) Hegel, Cousin, and Renan imagined Buddhism as a religion that was, as Nietzsche put it, a negation of the world. In fact, says the author, such portrayals were more a reflection of what was happening in Europe at the time-when the collapse of traditional European hierarchies and values, the specter of atheism, and the rise of racism and social revolts were shaking European societies-than an accurate description of Buddhist thought. The author also reflects on how this history continues to echo in contemporary western understanding of Buddhism. The book includes a comprehensive bibliography on books on Buddhism published in the west between 1638 and 1890. (shrink)

Ce volume, regroupant 13 contributions, publie les actes d’un colloque tenu en mai 2017 à l’université de Lausanne. Avec l’ambition, d’emblée énoncée par ses éditeurs, de « compare and contrast the development of royal and heroic cults in the Hellenistic period » (p. 1), le présent ouvrage vise à examiner les évolutions, transformations et mutations culturelles qu’ont connues les cultes et honneurs dévolus aux êtres humains dans le bassin méditerranéen, tout au long de l’époque hellénistique....

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, (...) a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 1 covers the Aniconic age, the Iconic age, and the cults of Cronos, Zeus, Hera and Athena. (shrink)

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, (...) a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. (shrink)

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, (...) a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 1 covers the Aniconic age, the Iconic age, and the cults of Cronos, Zeus, Hera and Athena. (shrink)

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, (...) a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 2 focuses on the cults of Artemis, Adrasteia, Hekate, Eileithyia, and Aphrodite. (shrink)

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, (...) a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 3 focuses on the cults of Ge, Demeter, Hades, and Rhea. (shrink)

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, (...) a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 4 focuses on the cults of Poseidon and Apollo. (shrink)

Vietnam is a country with many spiritual beliefs that reflect the values of its inhabitants, being an important component of their traditional culture. A special place is occupied by faith in the Mother Goddess. This kind of beliefs, which is completely unique for Vietnam, has a long history and emphasizes the feminine principle through the image of a woman with the power and ability to create, enrich and develop everything that exists. Faith in the Mother Goddess reflects the values and (...) high human qualities of the Vietnamese, and it has been recognized by UNESCO as an object of representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Confucian ethics was adopted in Vietnam, but it was influenced by the Vietnamese belief in the Mother Goddess. The cult of the Mother Goddess also had a great influence on the ideas about the role of women in society. The study analyzes the origins, features and values of this cult and indicates its influence on the Vietnamese Confucian ethics. It is established that the activities of the worship of the Mother Goddess contribute to strengthening the sense of community of the Vietnamese nation. In connection with the development of Confucian ethics within the framework of Vietnamese culture, the attitude towards women has changed to a more humane and open one. In modern times, the cult of mother worship has acquired secular features and can be seen as a sign of gender equality. (shrink)

The author’s idea is to stress the contradictory nature of the security phenomenon and to emphasize that excessive security — desired, required, or achieved — turns into its own destructive opposite and becomes a totalitarian threat. Real security that is essential for a meaningful life is achieved through a closely reasoned self-confidence and trust-based relationships with just a few others. Alienation by an individual of a self-defense resource in favor of third parties and structures leads to a totalitarian cult of (...) security that turns it into a farce. (shrink)

The nineteenth century saw frequent appeals to the idea of a redeemer personality, a heroic leader – musings which culminated in the cults devoted to Hitler and Stalin. This article shows that the self-assertion of leaders can stimulate the self-abasement of the followers on whom they depend (and vice versa), and discusses in what circumstances such an interplay becomes dominant in a society, and with what advantages and disadvantages for it.

Hellenistic ruler cult has generated much scholarly interest and an enormous bibliography; yet, existing studies have tended to focus on the communal character of the phenomenon, whereas the role of private individuals (if any) in ruler worship has attracted little attention. This article seeks to redress this neglect. The starting point of the present study is an inscription Διὶ | καὶ βασιλεῖ | Φιλίππωι Σωτῆρι on a rectangular marble plaque from Maroneia in Thrace. Since the text was published in 1991, (...) it has been disputed whether the king in question is Philip II or Philip V of Macedon. The question is further complicated by a newly published text from Thasos, plausibly restored to read [Β]ασιλέως Φιλί[ππου] | σωτῆρος. The identity of the king in these texts is a matter of great historical significance: if Philip II is meant, not only would this impinge on the question of his divinity, he would also be the first king called Sōtēr, thus providing the earliest attestation of a cult epithet spreading from the traditional gods to monarchs. The first part of this article will re-examine the king's identity by studying these two texts in connection with other dedications similarly addressed to a ‘King Philip’ and apparently set up by private individuals. The second will move beyond Macedonia: it will draw on potential parallels from the Attalid, Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms and explore the possible contexts in which individuals set up similar objects. It will be demonstrated that, while there is evidence from other Hellenistic kingdoms of seemingly ‘private’ dedications set up according to civic or royal commands, in Macedonia the piecemeal and isolated nature of the evidence does not permit a conclusive answer. But whether set up spontaneously or by civic command, these objects provide important evidence for the interaction between the public and the private aspects of ruler worship. (shrink)

Origène réplique point par point aux arguments que Celse avait invoqués pour rejeter la caricature du culte des images composée par la polémique chrétienne. Il taxe les philosophes d’inconséquence. Au-delà du pamphlet de Celse, il pourfend une thèse que l’adversaire n’exploitait pas, mais qui était fortrépandue: le culte des statues et des images des dieux aurait une valeur symbolique. Ce symbolisme est attesté chez Plutarque, Dion Chrysostome, Maxime de Tyr, plus tard chez Porphyre. Sa diversité a pour origine la complexité (...) des propos de Platon sur la manière de représenter les dieux. Origène veut dénoncer comme illusoire la signification attribuée à de tels «symboles». Ses propres réflexions dans le Contre Celse leur opposent une conception du «symbole» qui, tout en insistant sur sa matérialité, sa visibilité, son historicité, le distingue de l’«image» mimétique, pour l’orienter vers autre chose que lui. Cette distinction est peut-être à méditer, aux sources de la doctrine ultérieure de l’icône, dont ce «symbole»-là serait un précurseur. (shrink)

"The contributions to this book offer a broad vision of the relationships that were established between Greek Philosophy and the Mystery Cults. The authors centre their attention on such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoic and the Neoplatonist philosophers, who used - and in some cases criticised - doctrinal elements from Mystery Cults, adapting them to their own thinking. Thus, the volume provides a new approach to some of the most renowned Greek philosophers, highlighting the influence that Mystery Cults, (...) such as Orphism, Dionysianism, or the Eleusinian rites, had on the formation of fundamental aspects of their thinking. Given its interdisciplinary character, this book will appeal to a broad academic readership interested in the origin of Hellenic thinking and culture. It will be especially useful for those eager for a deeper approach to two fundamental domains that attract the attention of many Antiquity scholars: Greek philosophy and religion. (shrink)

After launching his career with the 1947 publication of his dissertation, _Occidental Eschatology_, Jacob Taubes spent the early years of his career as a fellow and then professor at various American institutions, including Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia. During his American years, he also gathered together a number of prominent thinkers at his weekly seminars on Jewish intellectual history. In the mid-60s, Taubes joined the faculty of the Free University in West Berlin, initially as the city's first Jewish Studies professor of (...) the postwar period. But his work and interest expanded beyond the boundaries of the field of Jewish Studies to broader philosophical questions, particularly in the philosophy of religion. A charismatic speaker and a great polemicist, Taubes had a phenomenal ability to create interdisciplinary conversations in the humanities, engaging scholars from philosophy, literature, theology, and intellectual history. The essays presented here represent the fruit of conversations, conferences, and workshops that he organized over the course of his career. (shrink)

This article explores the origins and early development of the cult of Asclepius. Most of the relevant materials are found in classical literature, although archaeology can also help to shine some light on certain areas. Unsurprisingly, the origins of the cult are quite obscure. A number,of places in ancient Greece competed for the honour of being his birthplace, and there is no conclusive reason for deciding in favour of any of them. One thing that is constant in the stories told (...) about him is that Apollo was usually his father. Another constant in the history of the cult is the practice of incubation. It seems likely that the cult brought together and combined elements of several healing cults that were originally quite separate. The cult emerged at the same time that Hippocratic medicine was developing. A new understanding of the nature of the soul, and the relationship between it and the body was also taking root. It is reasonable to believe that these facts are related, although harder to say exactly how. (shrink)

In the article, based on the elaboration of a large array of literature on the topic, as well as direct and inclusive study of ritual practice, mainly orthodoxy, reveals the place and functional purpose of the religious factor in the complex structure of the religious phenomenon, in various manifestations of religious life.

Résumé La religion de l’Humanité est, dans sa genèse, le résultat de deux grandes lignes de réflexions, l’une spécifiquement morale, s’interrogeant sur les conditions de l’unité à la fois individuelle et collective, et l’autre d’abord « sociologique » ou politique, puis spécifiquement religieuse, relative à la notion d’Humanité. L’objet de cet article est de montrer plus particulièrement l’importance de la problématique morale dans la construction de la religion positiviste : celle-ci fournit le cadre théorique à l’intérieur duquel le culte de (...) l’Humanité acquiert une dimension véritablement religieuse. C’est ce que permet d’établir une étude génétique des textes où s’élaborent les prémisses de l’idée religieuse : les conversations avec Laffitte, les plans du cours de 1847, et les différentes versions du tableau cérébral. Il nous est enfin apparu que la thèse ainsi dégagée fournissait la clef d’une lecture pleinement philosophique de la correspondance avec Clotilde de Vaux. (shrink)

Dans cette étude, on présentera les divinités féminines honorées à Dion depuis les origines jusqu’à la conquête romaine et on enquêtera sur l’origine de leur culte. Le culte des Muses, seul attesté dans les textes anciens, était lié à celui de Zeus Olympien et encouragé par le roi macédonien Archelaos vers la fin du ve siècle avant notre ère en tant que moyen de propagande. Déméter était une divinité féminine importante, dont le culte a été mis au jour par les (...) témoignages archéologiques les plus anciens. Son sanctuaire accueillait également d’autres divinités féminines de la fertilité de moindre importance. Le culte de ces divinités, par opposition au culte des Muses, était fondé sur le désir du fidèle de communiquer avec les dieux avec lesquels une relation plus intime était supposée et qui pouvaient assurer leur existence et leur bien-être. De plus, le culte de la déesse égyptienne Isis, introduit à Dion au cours du iie siècle avant notre ère, a peu à peu éclipsé le culte de divinités plus anciennes, puisqu’Isis combinait plusieurs de leurs prérogatives. En conséquence, son sanctuaire est devenu le plus florissant durant la période romaine.In this contribution, the female deities worshipped at Dion since its establishment as a city through to the Roman conquest are presented and the origin of the cult of these deities is investigated. The worship of the Muses, the only worship attested in ancient texts, was related to the worship of Olympian Zeus and supported by the Macedonian King Archelaos around the end of the 5th century B.C. as a means of expediency and propaganda. Demeter was an important female deity, whose cult was brought to light by the oldest archaeological evidence. Her sanctuary also hosted other minor female deities of fertility. The cult of these deities, in contrast to the cult of the Muses, was based on the worshippers’ urge to communicate with those of the gods with whom a more intimate relationship was assumed and who could ensure their existence and welfare. Moreover, the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis, introduced to Dion in the 2nd c. B.C., gradually overshadowed the worship of older deities, since Isis combined several of their qualities. As a consequence, her sanctuary became the most thriving shrine during the Roman period. (shrink)