> Directors
Stéphanie Wyler (Paris 7)
with Anne-Françoise Jaccottet (Genève University)
> Participants
Yann Berthelet (CNRS Fondation Thiers), Stefano Caneva (Liège), Gabrielle Frija (Marne-la-Vallée), Stéphanie Paul (Liège), Marie Widmer (Lausanne), Jenny Wallenstein (Athènes), Marie Widmer (Lausanne)
> About
Based on a lexical survey on the title of Hellenistic kings called « new gods » (e.g. neos Dionysos), this research program deals with the religious evolution of such behaviour through Greek and Roman worlds, from the Hellenistic period up to the beginnings of Roman Empire. We firstly study the lexical formula itself to understand the meaning of the adjective neos / nouus in comparison with other divine epicleseis ; secondly, the chronology of its use in official titles, but also in other textual evidence revealing how this assimilation between the face of power and a god was perceived. Furthermore, this program intends to enlighten the religious and political stakes of such official names : their chronological and geographical evolutions ; the identity and political value of the divinities involved in such process, in comparison with « new » great men (heroes and founders) ; how precisely they were worshiped ; how they were represented, in public performance (e.g. procession), but also through iconographic and literary images, that display (or not) the sign of the assimilation to the divinity.
> Research Organization
· 13th of June 2015 : introductive workshop « NEOI 1 : corpus » (Paris, INHA).
The aim of this workshop is to set up a corpus of epigraphic evidence mentioning a neos (theos) and to analyze it by developing one or two files extended to other datas.
· 5th of December 2015 : one-day conference « NEOI 2 : lexical survey » (Paris, INHA).
This second meeting intends to analyze and broaden the first results of the workshop NEOI 1, including other textual evidence than epigraphy.
· Other workshops and conferences will be planned between 2016 and 2018 (detailed program : forthcoming).
