Study On Pollution And Purification In Ancient Greek Life

The Social and Cultural History, arising from 1980 s, started a new specialized field to study history, and had become an important perspective which observes and interprets history. The social and cultural history pays close attention to the daily life of ordinary people, which gives an opportunity to people to study in a wider field. Under the influence of the trend, the study realm of the classical study becomes wider and deeper gradually. The question of “pollution and purification” is an important topic in the study of ancient Greek. By study this question, we could understand the culture and the daily life of the Greek. This thesis is on the basis of the theory and methods of history, referring to the related fruits of History, anthropology, sociology and so on, studying the pollution and purification in ancient Greek daily life. This whole thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter tries to explain the concept and the form of the “pollution” in ancient Greek daily life; and the relationship of this “pollution” with “sacred matters”; finally explains the purification methods of removing pollution. The second and the third chapter use the typical examples: birth, death, murder and sacrilege and so on in impersonal life and public life respectively to study the influence that the view of pollution and purification have on the life. Through the detailed study, we could discover the nature of social law or social rule which pollution belief implies. And we could also find that, in fact, the purification is spiritual. In other words, it is an expectation or a hope that could help people be away from bad divinities and not be disturbed by them. So, they can have a good time for their live. This thesis makes the pollution and purification in ancient Greek daily life as the object, and reconstructs the daily life from the impersonal life and the public life. All of this will help us have a better understanding of ancient Greece culture, ideology and daily life. this thesis focuses on the women’s pollution and purification in some cases, so this provides a new view for the study of ancient Greek woman.