THESUNKIN · Thessaly under the Kings: Religion, Society and the Politics of Multiculturalism in Mainland Greece

Thessaly under the Kings: Religion, Society and the Politics of Multiculturalism in Mainland Greece

The project aimed at exploring region-specific aspects on the intersection of religion, society and multiculturalism in the Hellenistic world. THESUNKIN offered a regional perspective on these issues, by focusing on Thessaly from the mid-4th to the mid-2nd century BCE. The project examined the politics of the Hellenistic Kings and their influence over the re-organisation of local cults and sacred landscape, with regards to the newly developed socio-cultural environment, with its multi-ethnic and multicultural communities and their competing claims that grew besides official royal politics. THESUNKIN is in the forefront of current concerns and societal challenges: contemporary conflicts of religious identities; major migrations; administration of multicultural communities; acculturation processes. Today, in the era of globalisation, when human values are constantly promoted by governments and international organizations, religious freedom is constitutionally acknowledged around the globe as one of the fundamental rights of modern man. However, extreme acts of violence carried out in the name of religious diversity are also frequently attested, and it feels awkward to perceive what a serious and constant challenge they pose to peace and democracy worldwide. Was religion always meant to be controversial? What images can be drawn from the pool of our collective historical memory? Bringing forward the diachronic values of the historical paradigm, the project transferred this problematic back to the realms of the Hellenistic world. It is widely known that the conquests of Alexander the Great in Asia in the late 4th century BCE resulted in the formation of a single globalized world. In the immense Hellenistic kingdoms, where free movement of goods expanded financial transactions beyond borders and free movement of people was favoured, large metropoleis were also created hosting individuals of varied ethnic and cultural origin and diversified ritual behaviour and religious beliefs. THESUNKIN broke new ground on how the Hellenistic Kings managed the religious diversity among their subjects. Although Thessaly formed part of the early Hellenistic kingdom of the Antigonid Kings in Mainland Greece, the region had not been part of the vibrant scholarly discussion regarding the attitudes and institutions of the wider Hellenistic World. The aim of the project was twofold. Firstly, it studied the local archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic and literary sources, in order to contextualise Thessalian religious attitudes and their political and socio-cultural agents. Second, the comparison of these regional data with comparative evidence of other well-studied regions of the Hellenistic World resulted in the first comprehensive study of Thessaly as vital unit of the oecumenical Hellenistic culture. Finally, the project’s outreach expanded its potential outside the academic environment, by contributing to the reception of Hellenistic Antiquity, and especially religion and the multicultural societies in Ancient Greece, Asia and Northern Africa- that is in the forefront of current concerns on clashes based on conflicts of religious identities.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз