Research On Ancient Greek Family Worship Of Classical Period

Religion played a crucial role in the process of development of ancient Greekhistory. An important manifestation of religion was ancient Greek family worship. It ishelpful for us to understand the people’s way of life, living custom and characteristicsof ancient Greek civilization. This article mainly is divided into three parts.The first part discusses the concept and origin of the family worship. Through theintroduction of family and religion in ancient Greece, we have a relatively specificunderstanding of the concept and origin of ancient Greek family worship.The second part is core part of this thesis. It mainly expounds the main content ofthe family worship in ancient Greece. There were many ancient Greek gods in thefamily, Hestia, Zeus, goddess of marriage and other gods; Family members played apart in family worship; many family rites included variety of family sacrifice, such asbirth, adoption, marriage, funerals and major festival of sacrificial behavior in thefamily.The third part focuses on the important role of the family worship in the social lifeof ancient Greece. Firstly, in the family worship, women had a unique position and role.Their important roles made up for the lack of their rights in politics. Secondly, familyworship further strengthened the family values of ancient Greeks and people became tomaintain unity in the family. Finally, by comparing family worship and public worship,this article illustrates that family worship can strengthen the connection betweenfamily and city-state, and strengthen the social communication.In a word, family worship was an important part of family life in classical periodof ancient Greece. It had important influence on the family and the polis.