This dissertation examines the roles of old priestesses in the Greek religious system. In addition to providing a comprehensive survey of the evidence for these priestesses, I present a theoretical model to explain the appointment of old women to these cults. I argue that their post-menopausal identity is fundamental for their selection as priestesses. This conception of post-menopausal identity has two facets—the physiological and the social. In each chapter, I discuss how different aspects of post-menopausal identity were relevant to specific cults and the ritual tasks performed by the priestess. Ultimately, it is their post-menopausal identity that necessitated the selection of post-menopausal women to these priesthoods.
As an introduction to this study of old priestesses, I discuss the history of scholarship on old women and the priestess in Chapter 1. I then explore the ancient conception of the old female body in order to clarify the physiological facet of post-menopausal identity in Chapter 2. I undertake a systematic study of menopause in the Greek world, using both ancient and modern comparative evidence. In subsequent chapters, I examine the different priesthoods to which post-menopausal women were appointed, each of which emphasizes different aspects of post-menopausal identity. In Chapter 3, I discuss the tendency of the Greek religious system to equate young and old women as ritual agents, using the Delphic Pythia as a case study. I propose that post-menopausal women were able to renew their virginity. With their “renewed virginity,” post-menopausal women were ritually equivalent to physical virgins and were able to attain the same high level of ritual purity. The debates concerning women and sacrifice are addressed in Chapter 4, specifically in relation to the role of the sacrificing and slaughtering priestesses at the Chthonia. These post-menopausal priestesses were exceptional within the Greek sacrificial system as they are the only known example of female cult agents who slaughtered the sacrificial animal. I address the issues of why these women could sacrifice and why they were involved in the Chthonia specifically. I argue that these post-menopausal women were accepted as slaughterers because they were no longer viewed as a threat to the male patrilineal system. In addition, the female focus of the Chthonia as a mystery cult in honor of Demeter prompted the choice of post-menopausal priestesses. In Chapter 5, I utilize the cross-cultural perception of the old woman as the bearer of wisdom and transmitter of cultural traditions to examine the Sixteen Women of Elis and the Gerarai of Athens. Although the cult traditions of these two collective priesthoods differ, they are linked because of their connection to marriage and a younger female generation.
In this study, I offer an explanation for the appointment of old priestesses by focusing on the conception of post-menopausal identity with both its physiological and social facets. Post-menopausal identity, and specifically renewed virginity, is the initial step toward a more complete understanding of the post-menopausal woman’s role in ancient society.