The paper examines doctrinal and political reasons to explain why the Ancient Greek religion did not feature a distinct class of professional priests as suppliers of religious goods. Doctrinal reasons relate to worshiping a multitude of powerful anthropomorphic gods with flawed characters; absence of a founder of religion and of a scripture; lack of religious doctrine and of a code of moral behaviour and piety manifested as mass participation in rituals. These factors denied religious suppliers the opportunity to form a monopoly acting as an autonomous intermediary between humans and gods. Political reasons relate to the supremacy of the demos which watchfully guarded its decision-making powers and prevented other actors like a priestly interest group to challenge its authority.

这篇论文考察了教义和政治原因，以解释为什么古希腊宗教没有以一个独特的职业牧师类别作为宗教物品的供应商。教义上的原因与崇拜众多性格有缺陷的强大拟人神有关；没有宗教和圣经的创始人；缺乏宗教教义，缺乏道德行为准则和虔诚，表现为群众参加仪式。这些因素剥夺了宗教供应商形成垄断的机会，作为人与神之间的自主中介。政治原因与示威者的至高无上有关，他们警惕地保护其决策权并阻止其他参与者（如牧师利益集团）挑战其权威。