Alexandros Sakellariou: The reconstruction of ancient Greek religion: Practicing Hellenic religious tradition in contemporary Greek society.
The above link is to a very fair, objective and valid academic work on the revitalization of Hellenic religion in Greece in PDF format. Alexandros Sakellariou, a Greek sociologist and researcher, interviewed several ethnic Hellenes, researched what is important to them and the reasons why they abandoned Christianity for Hellenism. The result is a generally understandable presentation of the complex phenomenon of re-Hellenization.
His thoroughly researched and written study paints also a realistic picture of the religious situation in contemporary Greece and offers an insight into the unknown world of Hellenism, which is very rare when it comes to corresponding academic studies. Almost all papers on Hellenic revitalization are written by non-Greeks with no access to Greek material and no insider knowledge about Greek society.
This paper is qualitatively different; the author didn't write about ethnic Hellenes, he actually talked and listened to them. He knows Greek society, the Hellenic organizations and the development of the re-Hellenization movement over a period of several years. Sakellariou treats the topic with respect and scholarly stringency. Unfortunately, that is not always a matter of course. This enabled him to set some things straight and, more importantly, to provide a basic understanding of Hellenic revitalization to people who are unfamiliar with Hellenism.
Therefore, if one wants to know more about ethnic Hellenes, what they think and what motivated them to embrace their ancestral tradition, I recommend reading this study.
Alexandros Sakellariou: The reconstruction of ancient Greek religion: Practicing Hellenic religious tradition in contemporary Greek society, Wuhan Journal of Cultic Studies, Volume 1, Issue 2: 2021.
- Introduction
- The religious landscape of Greek society
- The reappearance and reconstruction of ancient Greek religion
- Theoretical background and methodology
- The role of tradition in contemporary trajectories
- Theology, values and ideology
- Practices and participation: Individual and collective
- Conclusions
- References
