Coping with the gods : wayward readings in Greek theology /
:
Inspired by a critical reconsideration of current monolithic approaches to the study of Greek religion, this book argues that ancient Greeks displayed a disquieting capacity to validate two (or more) dissonant, if not contradictory, representations of the divine world in a complementary rather than mutually exclusive manner. From this perspective the six chapters explore problems inherent in: order vs. variety/chaos in polytheism, arbitrariness vs. justice in theodicy, the peaceful co-existence of mono- and polytheistic theologies, human traits in divine imagery, divine omnipotence vs. limitation of power, and ruler cult. Based on an intimate knowledge of ancient realia and literary testimonia the book stands out for its extensive application of relevant perceptions drawn from cultural anthropology, theology, cognitive science, psychology, and linguistics.
:
1 online resource (xiii, 593 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 561-576) and indexes. :
9789004210905 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Hierà kalá : images of animal sacrifice in archaic and classical Greece /
:
Hierà kalá presents a collection, analysis and interpretation of the representations of animal sacrifice from ancient Greece. The Archaic and Classical material is dealt with comprehensively. Later evidence is adduced more selectively, for the sake of comparison. All aspects of Greek sacrifice that are (or appear to be) represented in the iconographical material are treated in depth; interpretations are based on a combined study of the archaeological, the epigraphical and the literary data. Full catalogues of vase paintings and votive reliefs with depictions of sacrifice are included. A generous selection of these are illustrated in more than 200 figures.
:
1 online resource (viii, 374 pages, [78] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-362) and indexes. :
9789004283459 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion and colonization in ancient Greece /
:
Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.-- University of Pennsylvania).
Includes indexes. :
1 online resource (xii, 297 pages, [1] pages of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-280). :
9789004296701 :
0169-9512 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Kykeon : studies in honour of H.S. Versnel /
:
A collection of papers with new insights on ancient religion, read at a colloquium in honour of Professor H.S. Versnel (\'Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion\'). The contributions, presented by nine leading scholars in the field, cover many areas of the religious experience of the Greeks and Romans: myth and ritual (W. Burkert), the gods (F. Zeitlin), cult, festivals, sacrifice. Several papers consider methodological problems and the progress of scholarship; they highlight the contribution of H.S. Versnel to the field. The papers are based on a wide range of sources: pagan and Christian, literary and epigraphical and iconographical. The collection will fascinate all scholars interested in ancient religion, whether they study malign magic, the Imperial cult or general theory.
:
1 online resource (viii, 228 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004295940 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Cretan sanctuaries and cults : continuity and change from Late Minoan IIIC to the Archaic period /
:
This volume documents the development of Cretan sanctuaries and associated cults from the end of the Late Bronze Age into the Archaic Period (c.1200-600 BC). The book supplies up-to-date site catalogues and discusses recurring types of sanctuaries, the history of their use and their religious and social functions, offering new insights into the period as a whole. Ancient Crete is known as an island whose religion displays a strong continuity with 'Minoan' traditions. The period of 1200-600 BC in general, however, is considered as one of profound socio-political and cultural change. This study explores the idea of 'continuity' by detailing the different processes and mechanisms involved in the maintenance of older cult traditions and provides balance by placing the observed changes in cult customs and the use of sanctuaries in the broader context of societal change.
:
1 online resource (xviii, 737 pages, [53] pages of plates) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 655-699) and index. :
9789047406907 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A Local history of Greek polytheism : gods, people, and the land of Aigina, 800-400 bce /
:
This book provides the first comprehensive and detailed study of the deities and cults of the important Greek island-state of Aigina from the Geometric to Classical periods (800-400 BCE). It rests on a thorough first-hand reconsideration of the archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence. The development of the local cults is reconstructed, along with their interrelationships and how they responded to the social needs of the Aiginetans. Revising other recent models of interpretation, the author proposes a distinctive approach, informed by anthropology and social theory, to the study of the religious life of the ancient Greeks. On this basis, she uses the case of Aigina to explore fundamental issues such as the nature and variety of local religious worlds and their relationship to the panhellenic concepts and practices of Greek religion.
:
1 online resource (xxviii, 690 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 551-577) and index. :
9789004262089 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Cult and Koinon in Hellenistic Thessaly
:
Cult and Koinon in Hellenistic Thessaly examines the territorial expansion of the Thessalian League circa 196-27 BCE and the development of the state religion of the League. Individual chapters trace the adoption of a common Thessalian calendar by new members of the League, the establishment of new regional festivals, the elaboration or reorganization of older cults, and League participation in a network of international festivals; cult could equally well enact alternatives to this political arrangement, however, and older religious traditions continued to be maintained both within new League territories and especially at Delphi. The result is a fresh portrait of the politics of cult on the Greek mainland in the later Hellenistic period.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004215023 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Étude critique des sources mythographiques grecques et latines (sauf le De dea Syria) avec un frontispice et une carte.
: 1 online resource (124 pages) : illustrations, folded mappages. : Includes bibliographical references. : 9789004296305 : Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The spirit in first century Judaism /
:
Conceptions of the divine spirit underwent complex metamorphoses in Jewish biblical interpretation during the Greco-Roman era. This monograph explores those permutations in the writings of Philo Judaeus, Josephus, and Pseudo-Philo ( Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum ). The first section, 'An Anomalous Prophet', unfolds surprisingly divergent transformations of the inspiration of Balaam. The second section, 'An Eclectic Era', unearths both faint and conspicuous traces of Greco-Roman conceptions in early Jewish interpretations. The third section, 'An Extraordinary Mind', undermines the view that the spirit was associated primarily with ecstasy rather than with intellectual insight. By analyzing these interpretations in light of other contemporary Greco-Roman and Jewish writings, this volume offers original and essential data for further study of inspiration in Antiquity, including early Judaism, early Christianity, and the Greco-Roman world. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
:
1 online resource (xiv, 302 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 276-279) and indexes. :
9789004332829 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Fabrications of the Greek past : religion, tradition, and modern identities /
:
Taking seriously critiques of historiography produced in recent decades, Vaia Touna advocates for an alternative approach to the way the past is studied. From Euripides' tragedy Hippolytus , to the notion of voluntary associations in the Greco-Roman world, to the authenticity of traditional villages in Greece, Fabrications of the Greek Past argues that meanings (and thus identities) do not transcend time and space, and neither do they hide deep in the core of material artifacts, awaiting to be discovered by the careful interpreter. Instead, this book demonstrates that meanings are always relative to their present-day context; they are historical products created by social actors through their ever-contemporary acts of identification. ---- "By disturbing the notion of an easily knowable Greek past, Touna makes an invaluable contribution to critical scholarship regarding ancient cultures and to contemporary theory about ideological uses of history." - Naomi Goldenberg, University of Ottawa "From an insider to Greek tradition, expert in its modern appropriations and translations, Fabrications is an important stimulus to metatheory and self-reflexivity in the study of religion, ancient and contemporary." - Gerhard van den Heever, University of South Africa "Vaia Touna expertly dissects modern discourses on the past, arguing that our contemporary interests don't just color our accounts of the past, they constitute them. A fantastic book." - Brent Nongbri, author of Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004348615 :
2214-3270 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.