The question, the Fragestellung, which drives this paper is, can football video-games be\nanalyzed from a religious perspective? We can answer positively, at least, provisionally. First, in\norder to demonstrate our approach, we will take into account the different conceptions on play\ndrawn along sociological theories. Second, we will analyze Francis M. Cornfordââ?¬â?¢s contribution to\nthe already forgotten but essential work by Jane Ellen Harrison, Themis: The Social Origins of the\nGreek Religion, in which he established an elective affinity between the origin of the Olympic Games\nand the annual ritual dedicated to the Daimon-God Dionysus, in which he was elected the best\nKouros (Young hero-King) of the year. At the very beginning, play, ritual, and competitive games\n(helped by self-reflexivity as well as collective reflexivity) were united, and that constellation is still\nthere in modern times with the creation of modern sport. Third, in modern advanced societies the\nfootball game-sport creates meaning, and succeeded throughout two main processes such as the\nsportification and progressive rationalization of violence. Fourth, we built an ideal type of two\ncompeting strategies, in which created a new type of hero, the sports hero, the modern celebrity.\nFinally, fifth, we analyze how in our digitalized societies the football videogames are a sort of play on\nthe play of which comes out a religious transcendence associated with it, ââ?¬Å?Throughout the videogame\nI become myself in my idolââ?¬Â. We explain this comparing two ideal types, the Dionysian-Messi versus\nthe Apollonian-Ronaldo.
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