Revisiting gifts to the gods. Ritual and gender considerations for dance groups and votive keys at Heraion alla Foce del Sele in past and present

The thesis deals with the symbolic implications of votive gifts in the form of dance groups and keys from Heraion alla Foce del Sele in the ancient Greek colony Poseidonia (Paestum), South Italy.

The purpose is to study the life stories of the gifts; how they reflect ritual activity and gender roles during antiquity, but also how the finds are presented today in museum exhibitions. Based on materiality and gender theories, the function of votive gifts is discussed as well as how they mediate gender roles and, by extension, how different interpretations can influence understandings of the past and contribute to shaping self-perceptions in the present.