Efrosyni Boutsikas, ‘The Immortal Soul in the Ancient Greek Cosmos’

The idea of the immortality of the soul was a theme that concerned a number of different aspects of ancient Greek life. The Mystery cults addressed concerns of the afterlife and prepared the initiates for dealing with the unknown. The subject of the immortality of the soul was also explored in Greek philosophical and cosmological investigations that sought to better understand the place of the psyche in the cosmos, but also the role of the divine realm. This talk will introduce the common concerns that ancient Greek Mystery cults and cosmologies had and how these concerns shaped and expressed current understanding on the mechanics of the cosmos.

Efrosyni Boutsikas is a lecturer in Classical Archaeology at the University of Kent and a member of the Council of the International Society for Archaeoastronomy in Culture (ISAAC). Her research focuses on ancient Greek religion, myth, astronomy and the role of time and space in ritual performance.