Feeling Apollo

Sensory Engagement in the Sanctuary of Apollo at Klaros

Bibliographic Data

ID4318079
AuthorsJaimie Gunderson (0009-0004-7865-815X, George Mason University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume17
Issue3
Pages405-428
Publication date2021-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMaterial Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1743-2200 • E-ISSN: 1751-8342
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17432200.2021.1915530
OpenAlexW3170077450
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited30

This article explores the interplay between body and materiality in the ancient oracular Sanctuary of Apollo at Klaros. Drawing upon sensory archaeology and classical studies, the article moves beyond the static paradigm of city-as-map in order to discover the sensory experience of an ambulant body within the sanctuary. In this way, the article suggests that a visitor’s experience in Klaros was intensely sensorial. Sensory engagement began with the evocative topography of the natural landscape; continued along the via sacra with sights, smells, and sounds; and culminated in oracular consultation in the temple. Movement through the sanctuary served as a form of “circumabulatory knowing” in which the nature of Apollo was shaped by felt encounters within the sanctuary

Aesthetics · Apollo · Archaeology · Art · Feeling · Sight · Visitor pattern · Visual arts · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOI