Thesis
Female piety: a study on inscribed dedications by women in Classical and Hellenistic Greece
- Abstract:
- This dissertation investigates female religious experience in Classical and Hellenistic Greece through the study of votive dedications associated with women, with particular emphasis on inscribed offerings. By analysing dedications made by women in sanctuaries across the Greek world, the thesis explores how women expressed religious agency and represented themselves within sacred spaces, arguing that they were active participants in religious life, using votive offerings to articulate relationships and assert their presence within both personal and communal frameworks. The core evidence is supplemented by archaeological context and literary sources, especially dedicatory epigrams, examined to assess how women’s piety was perceived and constructed in cultural discourse. Chronologically, the dissertation concentrates on the Classical and Hellenistic periods, with occasional reference to earlier and later material for comparative purposes, and draws on evidence from a wide range of geographical contexts to assess regional variation in cult practice and dedicatory behaviour. The thesis is structured thematically. Chapter 1 examines women’s dedications to Athena, with a focus on the Athenian Acropolis to tackle issues of civic visibility and female self- representation within a major polis cult. Chapter 2 explores dedications to Artemis, with particular attention to female life-cycle transitions. Chapter 3 focuses on offerings to goddesses closely associated with women’s social roles and experiences – such as Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter and Kore, and Eileithyia – considering how these cults shaped women’s religious agency. Chapter 4 examines women’s participation in healing cults, highlighting contexts of illness and bodily vulnerability. Chapter 5 compares dedicatory epigrams with epigraphic evidence in order to contrast literary representations of female piety with lived ritual practice. The final chapter investigates dedications made by men for women, analysing how familial relationships and gender norms shaped the public representation of women in votive contexts.
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Authors
Contributors
+ Kearns, E
- Institution:
- University of Oxford
- Division:
- HUMS
- Department:
- Classics
- Role:
- Supervisor
- DOI:
- Type of award:
- DPhil
- Level of award:
- Doctoral
- Awarding institution:
- University of Oxford
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Subjects:
- Deposit date:
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2026-07-13
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Giorgia Capra
- Copyright date:
- 2026
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