Light and darkness played an important role beyond the division of time in ancient Greek myth and religion; the contributors to Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek Myth and Religion consider its function on both the individual and social level as manifested in modes of thought and behavior and expressed in language, beliefs, ritual, and iconography. The book is divided into five parts: color semantics, appearance and concealment, eye sight/insight, being and beyond, and cult. Each subdivision contains a wealth of information for the reader, ranging from detailed explanations of the interplay between lexical categories that denote darkness and light and the effect of blindness on metaphysical matters to the qualities of cultic light. This unique volume will be of interest to readers in fields as diverse as ancient Greek history, metaphysics, and iconography.

Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian war was the arena for a dramatic battle between politics and religion in the hearts and minds of the people. Fear and Loathing in Ancient Athens, originally published in German but now available for the first time in an expanded and revised English edition, sheds new light on this dramatic period of history and offers a new approach to the study of Greek religion. The book explores an extraordinary range of events and topics, and will be an indispensable study for students and scholars studying Athenian religion and politics.

In this book, Efrosyni Boutsikas examines ancient Greek religious performances, intricately orchestrated displays comprising topography, architecture, space, cult, and myth. These various elements were unified in a way that integrated the body within cosmic space and made the sacred extraordinary. Boutsikas also explores how natural light or the night-sky may have assisted in intensifying the experience of these rituals, and how they may have determined ancient perceptions of the cosmos. The author's digital and virtual reconstructions of ancient skyscapes and religious structures during such occurrences unveil a deeper understanding of the importance of time and place in religious experience. Boutsikas shows how they shaped emotions, cosmological beliefs, and ritual memory of the participants. Her study revolutionises our understanding on ancient emotionality and cognitive experience, demonstrating how Greek religious spaces were vibrant arenas of a shared experience of the cosmos.

This volume assembles fourteen highly influential articles written by Michael H. Jameson over a period of nearly fifty years, edited and updated by the author himself. They represent both the scope and the signature style of Jameson's engagement with the subject of ancient Greek religion. The collection complements the original publications in two ways: firstly, it makes the articles more accessible; and secondly, the volume offers readers a unique opportunity to observe that over almost five decades of scholarship Jameson developed a distinctive method, a signature style, a particular perspective, a way of looking that could perhaps be fittingly called a 'Jamesonian approach' to the study of Greek religion. This approach, recognizable in each article individually, becomes unmistakable through the concentration of papers collected here. The particulars of the Jamesonian approach are insightfully discussed in the five introductory essays written for this volume by leading world authorities on polis religion.

Applying the latest narratological theory and focusing on the use of anachrony (or 'chronological deviation'), this book explores how Statius competes - successfully - for a place within an established literary canon. Given the tremendous pressure on poets to render familiar stories in unfamiliar and novel ways, how did he achieve this? When Statius elected to sing of the quarrelsome sons of Oedipus he was acutely aware that this was a well-trod road, one frequently reproduced in a variety of genres - epic, drama and lyric poetry. Despite this highly varied corpus against which he sought to contend, he boasts that his epic has novelty and proudly declares that he is now counted among the 'prisca nomina', or ancient names, that sang of Thebes. And indeed precisely the fact that there were so many story-versions (a greater number survive for comparison than for any other work from antiquity, rivaling even the popularity of the Trojan legend) means that the story is conveniently positioned to offer a unique exploration into how Statius creates a compelling story despite working within a saturated and overly familiar mythic tradition. This book argues that it is chiefly through the use of narrative anachrony, or non-chronological modes of narration, that Statius manipulates states of anticipation, suspense, and even surprise in his audience.

Greek myth has played an unparalleled role in the formation of Western visual traditions, for which it has provided a nearly inexhaustible source of forms, symbols, and narratives. This richly illustrated book examines the legacy of Greek mythology in Western art from the classical era to the present. It reveals the range and variety with which individual Greek myths, motifs, and characters have been treated throughout the history of the visual arts in the West. Tracing the emergence, survival, and transformation of key mythological figures and motifs from ancient Greece through the modern era, it explores the enduring importance of such myths for artists and viewers in their own time and over the millennia that followed.

Images of episodes from Greek mythology are widespread in Roman art, appearing in sculptural groups, mosaics, paintings and reliefs. They attest to Rome's enduring fascination with Greek culture, and its desire to absorb and reframe that culture for new ends. This book provides a comprehensive account of the meanings of Greek myth across the spectrum of Roman art, including public, domestic and funerary contexts. It argues that myths, in addition to functioning as signifiers of a patron's education or paideia, played an important role as rhetorical and didactic exempla. The changing use of mythological imagery in domestic and funerary art in particular reveals an important shift in Roman values and senses of identity across the period of the first two centuries AD, and in the ways that Greek culture was turned to serve Roman values.

This collection contains more than 30 enthralling new retellings of favourite myths as well as some you might not have heard before!

Including Theseus and the Minotaur, The Twelve Labours of Herakles, and the escapades of Jason and the Argonauts, each myth is told in engaging modern language, which is easy for children to understand yet still retains the humour and intrigue of the original tales. Stunning illustrations by multi-award winning artist Katie Ponder breathe new life into each classic story.

Additional feature pages delve deeper into the mythical world, providing profiles of the gods. The reference section provides key background information, such as Ancient Greek storytelling and the incredible beasts of the myths, and a pronunciation guide.

Greek Myths is the perfect gift, featuring foil on the cover and beautiful illustrations throughout. Children will love exploring the tales by themselves or as bedtime stories. It will be treasured forever.

The 'Orphic' gold tablets, tiny scraps of gold foil found in graves throughout the ancient Greek world, are some of the most fascinating and baffling pieces of evidence for ancient Greek religion. This collection brings together a number of previously published and unpublished studies from scholars around the world, making accessible to a wider audience some of the new methodologies being applied to the study of these tablets. The volume also contains an updated edition of the tablet texts, reflecting the most recent discoveries and accompanied by English translations and critical apparatus. This survey of trends in the scholarship, with an up-to-date bibliography, not only provides an introduction to the serious study of the tablets, but also illuminates their place within scholarship on ancient Greek religion.

This book examines the fragmentary and contradictory evidence for Orpheus as the author of rites and poems to redefine Orphism as a label applied polemically to extra-ordinary religious phenomena. Replacing older models of an Orphic religion, this richer and more complex model provides insight into the boundaries of normal and abnormal Greek religion. The study traces the construction of the category of 'Orphic' from its first appearances in the Classical period, through the centuries of philosophical and religious polemics, especially in the formation of early Christianity and again in the debates over the origins of Christianity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A paradigm shift in the study of Greek religion, this study provides scholars of classics, early Christianity, ancient religion and philosophy with a new model for understanding the nature of ancient Orphism, including ideas of afterlife, cosmogony, sacred scriptures, rituals of purification and initiation, and exotic mythology.

What is the difference between a ghost and a ghoul? How do you tell a good Jinn from a bad one? Where would you find a chimera or a manticore? What did Herodotus have to say about werewolves? In this enchanting little book, television producer and mythozoologist Tam OMalley explores the rich world of mythological animals, from banshees to harpies, griffins to vampires. These ancient beasties still intrigue us today, filling popular novels, screens and imaginations. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

First published in 1921, this title examines the relationship between what the author labels the 'rationalist' element in Western culture on the one hand, derived from the ancient Greeks, and Christianity, on the other. Bevan contends that these two traditions are distinct, but not mutually exclusive, and that to understand fully their mutuality and reciprocity it is necessary to examine the distinct history of both: their individual provenances, their fusion and interpenetration, and also, their future together. The first chapter attempts to indicate the significance of Hellenic culture in its relation to Eastern civilisation. The extinction of Paganism at the time of Augustine is examined, as is a selection of moral issues associated with the Christian life, as that is interpreted by the author. Finally, the notion of 'progress' is investigated with specific reference to the position of Christianity in the modern world.

First published in 1921, this title examines the relationship between what the author labels the 'rationalist' element in Western culture on the one hand, derived from the ancient Greeks, and Christianity, on the other. Bevan contends that these two traditions are distinct, but not mutually exclusive, and that to understand fully their mutuality and reciprocity it is necessary to examine the distinct history of both: their individual provenances, their fusion and interpenetration, and also, their future together. The first chapter attempts to indicate the significance of Hellenic culture in its relation to Eastern civilisation. The extinction of Paganism at the time of Augustine is examined, as is a selection of moral issues associated with the Christian life, as that is interpreted by the author. Finally, the notion of 'progress' is investigated with specific reference to the position of Christianity in the modern world.

From the award-winning poet and playwright behind Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall is an epic story and a lyrical exploration of pride, power and female revenge. There is something about Demi. When this boy is angry, rain clouds gather. When he cries, rivers burst their banks and the first time he takes a shot on a basketball court, the deities of the land take note. His mother, Modupe, looks on with a mixture of pride and worry. From close encounters, she knows Gods often act like men: the same fragile egos, the same unpredictable fury and the same sense of entitlement to the bodies of mortals. She will sacrifice everything to protect her son, but she knows the Gods will one day tire of sports fans, their fickle allegiances and misdirected prayers. When that moment comes, it won't matter how special he is. Only the women in Demi's life, the mothers, daughters and Goddesses, will stand between him and a lightning bolt.

This unique and entertaining travel guide to Greek waters recreates parts of voyages undertaken in myth, anchoring off landmarks or ports associated with ancient legends. It follows the trails of Odysseus, Hercules, and Jason and the Argonauts, as well as visiting the sites where Poseidon lost his trident (off Paxos) and built his temple (on the Saronic Gulf), the cliff where Theseus's father threw himself to his death after fearing his son had been killed by the minotaur, and Troy, the remains of which survive as a reminder of the city that withstood a 10-year siege. With almost 6,000 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, Greece is a maritime nation like no other - and according to its mythology this has been the case since the days when seafarers believed their fortunes, good or ill, lay in the hands of Poseidon. Sailing through these crystal clear waters today is a voyage into history, whether true or legendary. Retelling all the myths, from the very well-known to the less familiar, In the Wake of the Gods is a cruising companion to be read and enjoyed in its own right. With the author's in depth knowledge of the region, it is also packed with useful and practical pointers for pilotage and passage planning, including information about prevailing winds and anchoring, along with charts and photography.

Troy is familiar to us from the timeless and epic tales of Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid. These have been retold over the centuries by writers from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Madeline Miller and Rick Riordan, and enacted by stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Brad Pitt. But how much do we really know about the city of Troy; its storytellers, myth, actual location or legacy? In this richly illustrated book, the story of Troy is told through a new lens. Published to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum, it introduces the storytellers and Classical artists inspired by the myths of Troy, then examines the tales themselves - from the Judgment of Paris to the return of Odysseus - through the Classical objects for which the museum is internationally known. The third section focuses on Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Hissarlik, introducing the nineteenth-century search for the location of Troy that convinced the world that this city did once exist. Also explored is the possible Bronze Age background for the myth of the Trojan War, the historicity of which remains unresolved today. The final section delves into the legacy of Troy, and the different ways in which its story has been retold, both in literature and art, from Homer to the present day. Focusing on the major characters - Helen of Troy, Achilles and Hector, Aeneas and Odysseus - it illustrates how artists from Cranach and Rubens to Romare Bearden and Cy Twombly have been inspired by this archetypal tale to reflect on contemporary themes of war and heroism, love and beauty.

I choose to take back my life. My life. Medea is a wife and a mother. For the sake of her husband, Jason, she's left her home and borne two sons in exile. But when he abandons his family for a new life, Medea faces banishment and separation from her children. Cornered, she begs for one day's grace. It's time enough. She exacts an appalling revenge and destroys everything she holds dear. Ben Power's version of Euripides' tragedy Medea premiered at the National Theatre, London, in July 2014.

An action-filled reimagining of the famous Greek myth, Jason and the Golden Fleece, brilliantly told by classicist Mark Knowles. He has come to take what is yours... Iolkos, Thessaly. 1230 BC. King Pelias has grown paranoid, tormented by his murderous past and a prophecy of the man who will one day destroy him. When a stranger arrives to compete in the Games of Poseidon, Pelias is horrified, for this young man should never have grown to manhood. He is Jason, Pelias' nephew, who survived his uncle's assassins as a child. Now Jason wants his revenge - and the kingdom. But Pelias is cunning as well as powerful. He gives his foe an impossible challenge: to claim the throne, Jason must first steal the fabled Golden Fleece of Colchis. Jason assembles a band of Greece's finest warriors. They are the Argonauts, named for their trusty ship. But even with these mighty allies, Jason will have to overcome the brutal challenges hurled his way. His mission and many lives depend on his wits - and his sword. PRAISE FOR ARGO AND MARK KNOWLES: 'Mark Knowles has taken the legend of Jason and the Golden Fleece, and stripped it down to its bare bones... What is left is a deeply researched historical epic, so brilliantly brought to life I could taste the salt air on my tongue... Epic battles, well-rounded characters sailing through a brilliantly described world' Adam Lofthouse, author of The Centurion's Son 'What a spectacular triumph! Knowles has taken a reassuringly familiar legend and elevated it into a new, realistic and engrossing story' Sam Taw '[Knowles] has teamed his love of learning classics and childhood love of sword-and-sandals epics to accomplish something remarkable' Boarding Schools' Association 'Knowles has combined historical realities with sure-footed imagination... brilliant' Dr Paul Millett, Cambridge University (on The Consul's Daughter)

'A great storyteller' Madeline Miller, author of Circe In this powerful new collection, Charlotte Higgins foregrounds Greek mythology's most enduring heroines. Here are the myths of Heracles and Theseus, the Trojan war, Thebes and Argos and Athens. They are stories of love and desire, adventure and magic, destructive gods, helpless humans, fantastical creatures and resourceful witches. In this telling the female characters take centre stage as Athena, Helen, Circe, Penelope and others weave these stories into elaborate imagined tapestries. In Charlotte Higgins's thrilling new interpretation of these ancient stories, their tales combine to form a dazzling, sweeping epic of storytelling. With a series of original drawings by Chris Ofili.

God is unbounded. God became flesh. While these two assertions are equally viable parts of Western Christian religious heritage, they stand in tension with one another. Fearful of reducing God's majesty with shallow anthropomorphisms, philosophy and religion affirm that God, as an eternal being, stands wholly apart from creation. Yet the legacy of the incarnation complicates this view of the incorporeal divine, affirming a very different image of God in physical embodiment. While for many today the idea of an embodied God seems simplisticaeven pedestrianaChristoph Markschies reveals that in antiquity, the educated and uneducated alike subscribed to this very idea. More surprisingly, the idea that God had a body was held by both polytheists and monotheists. Platonic misgivings about divine corporeality entered the church early on, but it was only with the advent of medieval scholasticism that the idea that God has a body became scandalous, an idea still lingering today. In God's Body Markschies traces the shape of the divine form in late antiquity. This exploration follows the development of ideas of God's corporeality in Jewish and Greco-Roman traditions. In antiquity, gods were often like humans, which proved to be important for philosophical reflection and for worship. Markschies considers how a cultic environment nurtured, and transformed, Jewish and Christian descriptions of the divine, as well as how philosophical debates over the connection of body and soul in humanity provided a conceptual framework for imagining God. Markschies probes the connections between this lively culture of religious practice and philosophical speculation and the christological formulations of the church to discover how the dichotomy of an incarnate God and a fleshless God came to be. By studying the religious and cultural past, Markschies reveals a Jewish and Christian heritage alien to modern sensibilities, as well as a God who is less alien to the human experience than much of Western thought has imagined. Since the almighty God who made all creation has also lived in that creation, the biblical idea of humankind as image of God should be taken seriously and not restricted to the conceptual world but rather applied to the whole person.

This volume offers the most comprehensive survey available of the philosophical background to the works of early Christian writers and the development of early Christian doctrine. It examines how the same philosophical questions were approached by Christian and pagan thinkers; the philosophical element in Christian doctrines; the interaction of particular philosophies with Christian thought; and the constructive use of existing philosophies by all Christian thinkers of late antiquity. While most studies of ancient Christian writers and the development of early Christian doctrine make some reference to the philosophic background, this is often of an anecdotal character, and does not enable the reader to determine whether the likenesses are deep or superficial, or how pervasively one particular philosopher may have influenced Christian thought. This volume is designed to provide not only a body of facts more compendious than can be found elsewhere, but the contextual information which will enable readers to judge or clarify the statements that they encounter in works of more limited scope. With contributions by an international group of experts in both philosophy and Christian thought, this is an invaluable resource for scholars of early Christianity, Late Antiquity and ancient philosophy alike.

The first anthology to present the entire range of ancient Greek and Roman stories-from myths and fairy tales to jokes Captured centaurs and satyrs, incompetent seers, people who suddenly change sex, a woman who remembers too much, a man who cannot laugh-these are just some of the colorful characters who feature in the unforgettable stories that ancient Greeks and Romans told in their daily lives. Together they created an incredibly rich body of popular oral stories that include, but range well beyond, mythology-from heroic legends, fairy tales, and fables to ghost stories, urban legends, and jokes. This unique anthology presents the largest collection of these tales ever assembled. Featuring nearly four hundred stories in authoritative and highly readable translations, this is the first book to offer a representative selection of the entire range of traditional classical storytelling. Complete with beautiful illustrations, this one-of-a-kind anthology will delight general readers as well as students of classics, fairy tales, and folklore.

Since the nineteenth-century rediscovery of the Gilgamesh epic, we have known that the Bible imports narratives from outside of Israelite culture, refiguring them for its own audience. Only more recently, however, has come the realization that Greek culture is also a prominent source of biblical narratives. Greek Myth and the Bible argues that classical mythological literature and the biblical texts were composed in a dialogic relationship. Louden examines a variety of Greek myths from a range of sources, analyzing parallels between biblical episodes and Hesiod, Euripides, Argonautic myth, selections from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Homeric epic. This fascinating volume offers a starting point for debate and discussion of these cultural and literary exchanges and adaptations in the wider Mediterranean world and will be an invaluable resource to students of the Hebrew Bible and the influence of Greek myth.

Bringing together the study of the Greek classics and Indology, Arjuna-Odysseus provides a comparative analysis of the shared heritage of the Mahabharata and early Greek traditions presented in the texts of Homer and Hesiod. Building on the ethnographic theories of Durkheim, Mauss, and Dumont, the volume explores the convergences and rapprochements between the Mahabharata and the Greek texts. In exploring the networks of similarities between the two epic traditions, it also reformulates the theory of Georges Dumezil regarding Indo-European cultural comparativism. It includes a detailed comparison between journeys undertaken by the two epic heroes - Odysseus and Arjuna - and more generally, it ranges across the philosophical ideas of these cultures, and the epic traditions, metaphors, and archetypes that define the cultural ideology of ancient Greece and India. This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of Indo-European comparativism, social and cultural anthropology, classical literature, Indology, cultural and post-colonial studies, philosophy and religion, as well as to those who love the Indian and Greek epics.