Ancient Greek Cults
Ancient Greek Cults

Author: Jennifer Larson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-05-07

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1134346182

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Using archaeological, epigraphic, and literary sources; and incorporating current scholarly theories, this volume will serve as an excellent companion to any introduction to Greek mythology, showing a side of the Greek gods to which most students are rarely exposed. Detailed enough to be used as a quick reference tool or text, and providing a readable account focusing on the oldest, most widespread, and most interesting religious practices of the ancient Greek world in the Archaic and Classical periods, Ancient Greek Cults surveys ancient Greek religion through the cults of its gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines. Jennifer Larson conveniently summarizes a vast amount of material in many languages, normally inaccessible to undergrad students, and explores, in detail, the variety of cults celebrated by the Greeks, how these cults differed geographically, and how each deity was conceptualized in local cult titles and rituals. Including an introductory chapter on sources and methods, and suggestions for further reading this book will allow readers to gain a fresh perspective on Greek religion.

Greek Heroine Cults
Greek Heroine Cults

Author: Jennifer Lynn Larson

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 9780299143701

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This is the first book to show that the worship of heroines, as well as of gods and heroes, was widespread in the Greek world from the eighth through the fourth centuries B.C. Drawing upon textual, archaeological, and iconographic evidence as diverse as ancient travel writing, ritual calendars, votive reliefs, and Euripidean drama, Jennifer Larson demonstrates the pervasiveness of heroine cults at every level of Athenian society. Larson reveals that a broad range of heroic cults existed throughout the Greek world, encompassing not only individuals but couples (Pelops and Hippodameia, Alexandra and Agamemnon, Helen and Menelaos) and families such as those of Asklepios and the Dioskouroi. She shows how heroic cults reinforced the Greeks' gender expectations for both women and men through ritual status, iconography, and narrative motifs. Finally, Larson looks at the intersection of heroine cults with specific topics such as myths of maiden sacrifice, the Amazons, the role of the goddess Artemis, and folk beliefs about female "ghosts."

The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours
The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours

Author: Gregory Nagy

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2020-01-10

Total Pages: 657

ISBN-13: 0674244192

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What does it mean to be a hero? The ancient Greeks who gave us Achilles and Odysseus had a very different understanding of the term than we do today. Based on the legendary Harvard course that Gregory Nagy has taught for well over thirty years, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours explores the roots of Western civilization and offers a masterclass in classical Greek literature. We meet the epic heroes of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, but Nagy also considers the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the songs of Sappho and Pindar, and the dialogues of Plato. Herodotus once said that to read Homer was to be a civilized person. To discover Nagy’s Homer is to be twice civilized. “Fascinating, often ingenious... A valuable synthesis of research finessed over thirty years.” —Times Literary Supplement “Nagy exuberantly reminds his readers that heroes—mortal strivers against fate, against monsters, and...against death itself—form the heart of Greek literature... [He brings] in every variation on the Greek hero, from the wily Theseus to the brawny Hercules to the ‘monolithic’ Achilles to the valiantly conflicted Oedipus.” —Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly

New Heroes in Antiquity
New Heroes in Antiquity

Author: Christopher P. Jones

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 9780674035867

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Heroes and heroines in antiquity inhabited a space somewhere between gods and humans. In this detailed, yet brilliantly wide-ranging analysis, Christopher Jones starts from literary heroes such as Achilles and moves to the historical record of those exceptional men and women who were worshiped after death. He asks why and how mortals were heroized, and what exactly becoming a hero entailed in terms of religious action and belief. He proves that the growing popularity of heroizing the dead—fallen warriors, family members, magnanimous citizens—represents not a decline from earlier practice but an adaptation to new contexts and modes of thought. The most famous example of this process is Hadrian’s beloved, Antinoos, who can now be located within an ancient tradition of heroizing extraordinary youths who died prematurely. This book, wholly new and beautifully written, rescues the hero from literary metaphor and vividly restores heroism to the reality of ancient life.

A History of Religious Ideas Volume 1
A History of Religious Ideas Volume 1

Author: Mircea Eliade

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2014-02-14

Total Pages: 508

ISBN-13: 022614769X

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“Everyone who cares about the human adventure will find new information and new angles of vision.”—Martin E. Marty, The New York Times Book Review This extraordinary work delves into the subject of religion in the prehistoric and ancient worlds—humankind’s earliest quests for meaning. From Neanderthal burials to the mythology of the Iron Age, to the religions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Israel, India, and beyond, it offers both an appreciation of the wide-ranging diversity of religious expression—and a consideration of the fundamental unity of religious phenomena. “Will arouse the interest of all historians of western religion, since it includes chapters on the religions of Canaan and Israel. However, the book must be read cover to cover if one wants to grasp the significance of its gigantic historical scope.”—Church History

Republics Ancient and Modern, Volume I
Republics Ancient and Modern, Volume I

Author: Paul A. Rahe

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2017-11-01

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 1469621517

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An assessment of the ancient Greek city and its subsequent influence. A masterwork of political theory and comparative politics for the classroom. "In a series of sketches touching on everything from the lust for honor to the suspicion of commerce and philosophy, from the role of homoerotic bonds in maintaining military formations to the distrust of technological innovation, Rahe brilliantly reminds us how utterly committed the Greeks were to a politics in which the distribution of honors, education and culture in all their forms, and economic activity were all designed to preserve civic solidarity.--Jack N. Rakove, American Historical Review "[An] extraordinary book. . . . It is a great achievement and will stay as a landmark.--Patrick Leigh Fermor, The Spectator (London) "A work of magisterial erudition.--Journal of American History

Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths?
Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths?

Author: Paul Veyne

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1988-06-15

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 9780226854342

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An examination of Greek mythology and a discussion about how religion and truth have evolved throughout time.