Introduction

Abstract

The 2020 issue of ARG focuses on subjects that have been of perennial interest to its readers, as well as some newer topics. It falls into four sections. We start with four independently submitted papers: one on a weather ritual and its communicative power; two on a topic that we usually designate with the slippery term “magic”; and a fourth that brings us back to ritual by focusing on how we might recreate the ‘model experience’ of an initiate into the mysteries that underlay the “Orphic” gold tablets. The second section includes four papers addressing the material aspects of religious practice. These were first presented at the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2018 as a panel organized by Sandra Blakeley and Nancy Evans and sponsored by the Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Third in line is a set of three papers drawn from an ongoing project at the University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès, entitled “Mapping Ancient Polytheisms: Cult Epithets as an Interface between Religious Systems and Human Agency.” The current papers, which were collected and edited by Fabio Porzia and Sylvain LeBreton, explore the significance of divine names in Anatolia and the Roman West. Finally, we present nine papers that debuted during a conference organized by Carolina López-Ruiz and Marco Antonio Santamaría at The Ohio State University in September 2018, entitled “Ex Arches: Looking Back at Myths of Origin.” The conference focused on thinking about how ancient Greek narratives about origins were articulated and the nature of their social functions. The events of the year 2020 have presented scholars with many challenges. I am very grateful to my editorial assistant, Colleen Kron, who helped me bring this volume into a properly finished state through the magic of Zoom, and to the editors and contributors for their patience as Colleen and I worked through the final stages of editing their articles. Let us hope that 2021 is a more auspicious year!