Propylaeum

In ancient Greek mentality, gods would not judge human beings according to abstract rules; their justice would rather work along mechanisms of reciprocity. In literature, for instance, there are many occurrences of the (comforting) thought that citizens behaving correctly would be rewarded by the gods. This implies, however, that negative acts would dissolve this good relationship, resulting in the anger of the gods and heavy consequences. This book analyses the mechanisms of divine retribution: using literary, epigraphical and archaeological sources, it aims to investigate what happens when the gods are angry and how the fear of divine punishment is mirrored in cultic practice. The monograph also studies the ways in which individuals, who feel that they have been victims of injustice, would invoke divine retribution on the wrongdoers.