From the Archaic to the Roman imperial period, an impressive number of gods and goddesses are attested in the Greek world under the titles of Soter and Soteira ('Saviour'). Overseeing the protection of individuals and cities, these gods had the power to grant an essential blessing - soteria ('deliverance', 'preservation', 'safety'). This book investigates what it meant to be 'saved' and the underlying concept of soteria in ancient Greece. It challenges the prevailing assumption that soteria was a predominantly Christian concern, and demonstrates instead its centrality and significance in the relationship between the Greeks and their gods. This book focuses on the power of 'saviour' gods in the life of the Greeks, how worshippers searched for soteria as they confronted the unknown and unknowable, and what this can reveal about the religious beliefs, hopes, and anxieties of the Greeks. It goes beyond religious vocabulary and cult epithets to investigate worshippers' thought world and lived experience, the different choices individuals made among the plurality of gods in the Greek pantheon, the multiple levels on which divine 'saviours' operated, and the values attached to the Greek notion of soteria. Building on existing paradigms in the study of Greek polytheism, and combining close analysis of epigraphic, literary and material evidence, this book argues that soteria for the Greeks entailed a very different experience from the Christian, eschatological notion of 'salvation', and that what was offered was 'salvation' on earth.

About the Author
Theodora Jim finished her doctorate at the University of Oxford, and is Assistant Professor in Ancient Greek History at the University of Nottingham. Her research interests include Greek religion and culture, Greek epigraphy, and comparative studies of religions. She is the author of Sharing with the Gods: Aparchai and Dekatai in Ancient Greece (Oxford, 2014).

Reviews
This book is in many ways a groundbreaking investigation of a significant religious concept. It should be widely read by scholars of religion in the ancient Mediterranean. * Tony Keddie, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
This is an important study for the backdrop of the New Testament vocabulary relating to salvation... It emphasises the stable and persistent this-worldly sense of the word group over almost a millennium. * Christoph Stenschke, Filologia Neotestamentaria *
Jim's book (particularly chapters 2, 3, and 4) is an excellent account, with well-chosen and well sorted examples, of the wide variety of individual and communal experiences of being saved by gods in Greek antiquity. Not only historians of Greek religion will find it interesting and helpful. Any further studies on the literary and philosophical values of soteria in ancient Greece will have to depart from her careful analysis of the epigraphic evidence. * Miguel Herrero de JA!uregui, Revue des livres *
The reader will profit from the panorama of nearly one millennium of evidence on the use of "savior" terminology in the Greek world * Glen L. Thompson, Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, Vol. 120 *
Jim's volume should be found on the top of their "to read" lists. * Nickolas P. Roubekas, Religious Studies Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780192894113
Author Theodora Suk Fong Jim
Format Hardback
Page Count 334
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 624g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 160mm * 22mm