Emotional Rescue

Abstract

AbstractIndividuals, city-states, and small-scale communities of worshippers memorialized instances when they were rescued from danger. They did so in a variety of ways, from staging fictional accounts of danger and deliverance to the public praise of local patriots and annual festivals in honor of gods and goddesses for their roles in saving the community. This article examines the significance of epigraphic narratives of endangerment and rescue from the third centuryBCto the third centuryAD. It argues that these inscriptions joined individuals into an emotional community of those whose lives had been touched by the gods. These epigraphic narratives point to the social significance of having a status as one rescued by the gods. Talking about one’s own weakness, vulnerability, and misfortune was a key way for individuals andpoleisto claim rights and privileges within communities, between them, and across time.