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T W O Antiquity I: The Animated Image i. An Introductory Observation No student of the ancient world, or of any field of inquiry that has some bearing o n ancien t culture , i s i n dange r o f forgettin g th e par t tha t th e images o f th e god s playe d i n Greco-Roma n Antiquity. Ther e ar e to o many text s tha t evok e on e aspec t o r anothe r o f thes e images , an d de mand a n explanatio n o f thei r meanin g an d role . Whethe r w e tur n t o fantastic stories of miraculous healings or to dreary documents attestin g to th e struggl e over politica l symbols , whethe r w e stud y myster y reli gions or the patterns and techniques of administrating distant provinces, whether w e concentrat e o n ar t o r o n literature , w e ar e sur e t o com e across some facet of what a god's image may have meant to the ancient world. It is not surprising, therefore, that it is so difficult t o offer a clear answer to a seemingly simpl e question, namely, how di d the Greek and Roman worl d approac h sacre d images , an d ho w di d i t accoun t fo r it s *3 24 Reflections in Classical Antiquity own attitud e towards them? However we ma y try to narrow dow n our question, an d thus to mak e i t more manageable , the difficulties o f providing a n answe r remain . I t may b e useful t o outline, eve n i f only i n a few words, some of these difficulties. To begi n with , ther e i s th e well-known , ye t astonishing , variet y o f religious belief s i n th e Greco-Roma n world , particularl y i n it s late r stages, which are also the more important ones for our story. "To move about i n the Roma n Empir e a t all," Ramsay MacMulle n wrote , "o r t o make the hastiest surve y o f it s religious variety , bring s home th e pullulation o f beliefs." 1 Suc h a burgeonin g an d bewilderin g variet y o f reli gious beliefs , easil y understandabl e i n a worl d lastin g fo r a thousan d years an d extendin g fro m Spai n an d Irelan d t o Persi a an d India , coul d not have failed to affect attitude s to the images of gods. The socia l an d cultura l stratificatio n o f th e ancien t worl d pose s an other problem, perhaps more directly bearin g on what we shall have to discuss in the present chapter. I t is precisely wit h regar d to the attitud e towards sacred images that some concepts now fashionable, such as that of popula r versus elitist culture, impos e themselve s o n th e student. Di d people livin g i n rural condition s in , say, the third century b.c . relat e t o the statues of th e gods i n a way simila r t o tha t of th e educated inhabi tants of the wealthy quarters of, say , second-century A.D . Alexandri a or Rome? It is enough to formulate suc h a question to see immediately the significance an d implication s o f th e problem s tha t arise . Bu t thes e ar e problems difficul t t o solve. There are, of course , well-known studie s of popular religion and popular piety in Antiquity2 that have deepened our understanding especially of the world of lat e Antiquity. Bu t our specifi c problem—the attitud e t o divin e images—doe s no t see m t o hav e occupied the minds of modern scholars. How far do labels such as "popular" or "elitist" apply t o th e attitud e t o divine images ? Do th e naive storie s about miracle s worke d b y holy statue s reflec t a "popular " approach , and doe s th e sophisticate d iron y...

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