Human Development in Sacred Landscapes

Between Ritual Tradition, Creativity and Emotionality

Contributions by Oliver Rackham Contributions by Susan Guettel Cole Contributions by Lukas Thommen Contributions by Sarah Hitch Contributions by Hamish A. Forbes Contributions by Efrosyni Boutsikas Contributions by James Roy Contributions by Mercedes Aguirre Contributions by Richard Buxton Contributions by Bettina Schulz Paulsson Contributions by Michael Teichmann Contributions by Vassiliki Pothou Contributions by Lutz Käppel Contributions by Jeremy McInerney Edited by Lutz Käppel Edited by Vassiliki Pothou

Book cover: Human Development in Sacred Landscapes

Extent: 252 pages

Publisher: V&R unipress

Subjects: Classical Studies, Religious Studies

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(June 2015)

ISBN: 9783847102526

6.34 x 9.33 inches

Price: $74.00

In stock

The conference was focused on the identification and interpretation of sacred areas principally – but not exclusively – in the ancient Greek world and in the study of Greek religious ideas or religious practice. What did ancient Greece, from the Mesolithic onwards, look like, if it is possible to identify sacred areas on a landscape scale and if the sacred landscapes were differing from countryside. Another paper offered a new understanding of the role of astronomical observations in the Delphic and Spartan landscapes. Most of the contributions were directly connected with the cult of Apollo and the history and tradition of the famous sanctuary of Delphi.


“Holy Landscape” is a term frequently used to describe a multidimensional phenomenon. What this actually comprises is hard to define. Precisely this question is addressed in this volume. The “holy landscape” depends on people’s Weltanschauung and is influenced by their respective culture and ethos. It is not just a question of religious buildings and rituals, nor is a mere matter of explicating terms such as “pure” and “impure”, magic and myths; it is about an expressive space in which the “ceremony and mood of rites and cults” take place. The contributions also deal with the emergence and continuing development of the term “holy landscape” and the changing expressions of religious mood.

Lutz Kappel is Professor of Greek Literature at the University of Kiel. Dr. Vassiliki Pothou teaches at the University of Kiel (“Human Development in Landscapes”).

  • Contributions by Oliver Rackham
  • Contributions by Susan Guettel Cole
  • Contributions by Lukas Thommen
  • Contributions by Sarah Hitch
  • Contributions by Hamish A. Forbes
  • Contributions by Efrosyni Boutsikas
  • Contributions by James Roy
  • Contributions by Mercedes Aguirre
  • Contributions by Richard Buxton
  • Contributions by Bettina Schulz Paulsson
  • Contributions by Michael Teichmann
  • Contributions by Vassiliki Pothou
  • Contributions by Lutz Käppel
  • Contributions by Jeremy McInerney
  • Edited by Lutz Käppel
  • Edited by Vassiliki Pothou