Greek Polis

Πόλις

The Polis

"The polis was a complex hierarchical society built around the notion of citizenship. It was made up of hundreds or even thousands of independent peasant householdsÐ'... All citizens had a share in the polis..." (Morris) Originally, the polis referred to a defensible area to which farmers of a particular area could retreat in the event of an attack. This defensible hill became known as an acropolis. The Acropolis in Athens is one example. Over time, towns grew around these defensible areas, and developed into the polis. The poleis were situated well inland to avoid raids by sea. With time, the agora, or marketplace, began to appear within the polis. The agora was not only a marketplace but the heart of Greek intellectual life and discourse. The word polis means city, but it was much more than that to the Greek citizen. It was the central focus of a citizen's political, religious, cultural, and civil life. Since poleis were so isolated from each other by mountains, they became largely self-sufficient communities.

In determining what a polis was and what its goals were, one can turn to Aristotle's idea of a polis:

"It is clear, therefore, that a polis is not an association for residence on a common site, or for the sake of preventing mutual injustice and easing exchange. These are indeed conditions which must be present before a polis can exist; but the presence of all these conditions is not enough, in itself, to constitute a polis. What constitutes a polis is an association of households and clans in a good life, for the sake of attaining a perfect and self-sufficing existence."

Aristotle says that the polis exists "for the sake of a good life." (Aristotle) The polis did not exist just because people lived in the same physical vicinity and had to have some sort of government. The polis was dedicated to the pursuit of a "good life."

This good life was conceived of in terms of the people having a say in the laws that governed them as well as the polis assisting them with a strong connection to the gods. There were many institutions within the Greek polis. Two institutions that aided "the good life" were religion and government.

Religion was a notable institution of a Greek polis. The object of polis religion was practical. Its most important function was to guarantee the good will of the gods and thereby the survival of the city.

The religion of the polis was a collection of cults and rituals specific to each polis. Each polis had its own practices and spiritual emphases, as was defined by the polis. Although the different poleis worshipped the same gods, what differed was the precise expression of the cult. (The main Greek gods were the twelve Olympians, Zeus, his wife Hera, Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, and Hestia. Other important deities included Hebe, Helios, Hades, Dionysus, Persephone and Heracles. Clearly, the ancient Greeks had a large pool of gods to choose to worship.) Each Greek state had its own calendar of festivals, its own gods and goddesses, spirits, and mythology. In addition, there were the cults and legends of its heroes and of the ancestors of its families. Clearly, no two Greek poleis had the exact same religious practices.

To emphasize the different practices of each polis, one could only take part in the religious ceremonies of their own polis. If one visited the sacra of another polis, they could only participate as a xenos, or foreigner.

Greeks of different poleis did come together for religious reasons, however. Athletic contests in honor of the gods especially emphasized the Greeks' unity as a people. Of course, the most famous of these were the Olympic Games held every four years in honor of the god Zeus. During these games a truce was called between all Greek poleis, allowing Greeks to travel in peace to the games, even through hostile states.

Festivals celebrating the gods also brought polis citizens together. They were not only to praise the gods, but also a chance for socialization. In fact, in Athens "Ð'...at the height of its power, festivals occurred on about half of the days of the year (but only a portion involved the whole community), and this number does not take into account the innumerable local rural festivals." (Nagle 123-124) People were either highly religious or just liked festivals.

Greeks believed that it was the relationship of the polis with its gods that guaranteed the polis' existence. Thus, the polis assumed the responsibility and authority to set a religious system into place and meditate human relations with the divine world. According to Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, "The role of the polis in the articulation of Greek religion was matched by the role of the religion in the articulation of the polis: religion provided the framework and the symbolic focus of the polis. Religion was the very center of the Greek polis." In other words, the polis relied on religion and religion relied on the polis. One could not exist without the other. For example, priests represented the entire polis, or any subgroup of the polis, in sacred rights. Priests then reported the results of their sacrifices to the Council.

A main aspect of polis religion was the emphasis on the individual. While there were many group rituals, such as taking part in sacrifices and worship of the gods, many other practices were towards the individual's relationship with the divine. Such personal rituals were aimed at helping the individual "Ð'...through the great events of lifeÐ'--birth, adolescence, marriage, and deathÐ'--and easing young men and women into the realities of military and domestic life." (Nagle 122-123)

The polis had the ability to regulate some religious practices. For example, the polis regulated oikos cults by laws concerning private funerals, by determining the fate of the bodies of war dead and traitors, by enforcing familial duties, and by ritualizing such things and the Genesia, when immediate ancestors were celebrated. (Sourvinou-Inwood)

Each citizen was expected to worship the gods in the appropriately described ways of their polis. Ritual, private as well as public, was omnipresent: It involved every aspect of life. It is needless to say that "Ð'...showing disbelief in the gods by not participating in their worship was regarded as dangerous to the well-being of the state." (Nagle 124)

The various poleis in Greece followed different lines of political development. The typical stages were monarchy, aristocracy, timocracy, tyranny, and finally evolving