Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 1 covers the Aniconic age, the Iconic age, and the cults of Cronos, Zeus, Hera and Athena.

Lewis Richard Farnell's five-volume The Cults of the Greek States, first published between 1896 and 1909, disentangles classical Greek mythology and religion, since the latter had often been overlooked by nineteenth-century English scholars. Farnell describes the cults of the most significant Greek gods in order to establish their zones of influence, and outlines the personality, monuments, and ideal types associated with each deity. He also resolutely avoids the question of divine origins and focuses instead on the culture surrounding each cult, a position which initially drew some criticism, but which allowed him more space to analyse the religious practices themselves. Written to facilitate a comparative approach to Greek gods, his work is still regularly cited today for its impressive collection of data about the worship of the most popular deities. Volume 3 focuses on the cults of Ge, Demeter, Hades, and Rhea.

This is the first book-length treatment of supplication, an important social practice in ancient Mediterranean civilizations. Despite the importance of supplication, it has received little attention, and no previous study has explored so many aspects of the practice. Naiden investigates the varied gestures made by the supplicants, the types of requests they make, the arguments used in defense of their requests, and the role of the supplicandus, who evaluates and decides whether to fulfill the requests. Varied and abundant sources invite comparison between the societies of Greece and Rome and also among literary genres. Additionally, Naiden formulates an analysis of the ritual in its legal and political contexts. In constructing this rich and thorough study, Naiden considered over 800 acts of supplication from Greek, Hebrew, and Roman literature, art, and scientific sources. 30 illustrations and a map of the relevant locations accompany the text.

This multi-disciplinary volume brings together the voices of biblical scholars, classicists, philosophers, theologians and political theorists to explore how ecology and theology intersected in ancient thinking, both pagan, Jewish and Christian. Ecological awareness is by no means purely a modern phenomenon. Of course, melting icecaps and plastic bag charges were of no concern in antiquity: frequently what made examining your relationship with the natural world urgent was the light this shed on human relationships with the divine. For, in the ancient world, to think about ecology was also to think about theology. This ancient eco-theological thinking - whilst in many ways worlds apart from our own environmental concerns - has also had a surprisingly rich impact on modern responses to our ecological crisis. As such, the voices gathered in this volume also reflect on whether and how these ancient ideas could inform modern responses to our environment and its pressing challenges. Through multi-disciplinary conversation this volume offers a new and dynamic exploration of the intersection of ecology and theology in ancient thinking, and its living legacy.

Many recent discoveries have confirmed the importance of Orphism for ancient Greek religion, philosophy and literature. Its nature and role are still, however, among the most debated problems of Classical scholarship. A cornerstone of the question is its relationship to Christianity, which modern authors have too often discussed from apologetic perspectives or projections of the Christian model into its supposed precedent. Besides, modern approaches are strongly based on ancient ones, since Orpheus and the poems and mysteries attributed to him were fundamental in the religious controversies of Late Antiquity. Both Pagan and Christian authors often present Orphism as a precedent, alternative or imitation of Chistianity. This free and thorough study of the ancient sources sheds light on these controversial questions. The presence of the Orphic tradition in Imperial Age, documented by literary and epigraphical evidence, is confronted with the informations transmitted by Christian apologists on Orphic poems and cults. The manifold Christian treatments of Pagan sources, and their particular value to understand Greek religion, are illuminated by this specific case, which exemplifies the complex encounter between Classical culture and Jewish-Christian tradition.

Gunther Martin examines the references to religion in the speeches of Demosthenes and other Athenian orators in the 4th century BC. In Part I he demonstrates the role religion plays in the rhetorical strategy of speeches in political trials: his main argument is that speakers had to be consistent in their approach to religion throughout their career. It was not possible to change from being a pragmatic to a religious' speaker and back, but it was possible, when writing for others, to use religion in a way one would not have used it when delivering a speech oneself. In Part II Martin deals with assembly speeches and speeches in private trials, in which religious references are far scarcer. In the assembly, unless genuinely religious matters are discussed, religion seems to have been practically inadmissible, while in private trials it is procedural elements that supply the majority of religious references.

This title deals with the myths and legends of the ancient worlds, from Greece, Rome and Egypt to the Norse and Celtic lands, through Persia and India to China and the Far East. It is a comprehensive A to Z of the classic stories of gods and goddesses, heroes, warriors and mythical beasts, with copious cross-references. Over 1000 alphabetical entries describe the central mythical figures of each culture and their importance to the ancient civilizations of their day. It is beautifully illustrated with over 1000 images spanning fifteen centuries of fine art, from the ancient world to the present, including specially commissioned artworks. It presents superb pictorial spreads on the mythical themes and symbols central to each culture. Timeless in scope and appeal, it is a classic and enduring reference work by two expert authorities. In this important volume, the mythologies of the ancient world are brought to life. In the first half, author Arthur Cotterell describes the central mythical figures of classical Greece and Rome, the Celtic heroes and the Nordic gods. In the second part, author Rachel Storm expertly leads us through the powerful pantheon of gods and goddesses of the East from Ancient Egypt, through Central Asia, to the dragon festivals of eastern lands. Pictorial features focus on recurring mythological themes, including heroes, oracles and prophecies. This comprehensive guide to the myths and legends of two great continents is timeless in its universal appeal.

The fascinating untold story of how the ancients imagined robots and other forms of artificial life-and even invented real automated machines The first robot to walk the earth was a bronze giant called Talos. This wondrous machine was created not by MIT Robotics Lab, but by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention. More than 2,500 years ago, Greek mythology was exploring ideas about creating artificial life-and grappling with still-unresolved ethical concerns about biotechne, "life through craft." In this compelling, richly illustrated book, Adrienne Mayor tells the fascinating story of how ancient Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese myths envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices, and human enhancements-and how these visions relate to and reflect the ancient invention of real animated machines. Revealing how science has always been driven by imagination, and how some of today's most advanced tech innovations were foreshadowed in ancient myth, Gods and Robots is a gripping new story of mythology for the age of AI.

The foremost historian of Greek religion provides the first comprehensive, comparative study of a little-known aspect of ancient religious beliefs and practices. Secret mystery cults flourished within the larger culture of the public religion of Greece and Rome for roughly a thousand years. This book is neither a history nor a survey but a comparative phenomenology. Concentrating on five major cults. In defining the mysteries and describing their rituals, membership, organization, and dissemination, Walter Burkert displays the remarkable erudition we have come to expect of him; he also shows sensitivity and sympathy in interpreting the experiences and motivations of the devotees.

In his reconstruction of the process and motivation of Constantine's adoption of Christianity the author proposes a number of new individual aspects. He commences with an analysis of the first evidence from the Emperor himself after his conversion, his massive moral and material support for the Christian clergy and ecclesiastic communities, and the role of Constantine as the first ruler of all Christendom until his death in 337. Finally it is shown that the Emperor wanted to suppress non-Christian religions and make Christianity the sole religion of the Empire and all humanity.

This volume is a study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the "mystery cults" popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point of view of the initiate engaging with the religion and its rich symbolic system in thought, word, ritual action, and cult life. He employs the methods of anthropology of religion and the new cognitive science of religion to explore in detail the semiotics of the Mysteries' astral symbolism, which has been the principal subject of his many previous publications on the cult.

This book is the first attempt that has ever been made to give a comprehensive account of the religious life of ancient Athens. The city's many festivals are discussed in detail, with attention to recent anthropological theory; so too, for instance, are the cults of households and of smaller groups, the role of religious practice and argumentation in public life, the authority of priests, the activities of religious professionals such as seers and priestesses, magic, the place of theatrical representations of the gods within public attitudes to the divine. A long final section considers the sphere of activity of the various gods, and takes Athens as a uniquely detailed test case for the structuralist approach to polytheism. The work is a synchronic, thematically organized complement (though designed to be read independently) to the same author's Athenian Religion: A History (Oxford 1996).

This treasury of more than 350 poems, prayers, hymns, blessings, and dramatic readings provides beautiful, powerful pieces that you can use to mark holidays, milestones, and the passing of the seasons. Discover prayers to Janus from Horace and Ovid, a traditional Scottish blessing for Imbolc, an invocation to Pan by poet Helen Bantock, a salutation to the sun by Aleister Crowley, a pharoah's hymn to Isis, a song for Lammas by Gwydion Pendderwen, and many, many more. In addition to readings and blessings for Pagan holidays and other special days throughout the year, you will also discover prayers for weddings and funerals and to coincide with phases of the moon. Author Barbara Nolan includes brief historical or biographical details to contextualize each piece as well as descriptions of various holidays and festivals to help you integrate these readings into your practice. A Year of Pagan Prayer demonstrates that the literary worship of Pagan deities was never fully lost in the West. This bounteous collection draws from the creative and spiritual legacy of Italian Renaissance poets, ancient Sumerian priestesses, twentieth-century Pagans, French Romantics, Greek playwrights, nineteenth-century British occultists, and Egyptian hymnists, making it a must-have sourcebook for anyone who yearns to embody the eloquent expressions of our Pagan past.

This is a substantially expanded and completely revises edition of a book first published by Fortress Press in 1988 as Maenads, Martyrs, Matrons, Monastics. The book collects translations of primary texts relevant to women's religion (pagan, Jewish, and Christian) in Western antiquity, from the fourth century BCE to the fifth century CE. This volume provides a unique and invaluable resource for scholars of classical antiquity, early Christianity and Judaism, and women's religion more generally.

In analyzing the parallels between myths glorifying the Indian Great Goddess, Durga, and those glorifying the Sun, Surya, found in the Markandeya Purana, this book argues for an ideological ecosystem at work in the Markandeya Purana privileging worldly values, of which Indian kings, the Goddess (Devi), the Sun (Surya), Manu and Markandeya himself are paragons. This book features a salient discovery in Sanskrit narrative text: just as the Markandeya Purana houses the Devi Mahatmya glorifying the supremacy of the Indian Great Goddess, Durga, it also houses a Surya Mahatmya, glorifying the supremacy of the Sun, Surya, in much the same manner. This book argues that these mahatmyas were meaningfully and purposefully positioned in the Markandeya Purana, while previous scholarship has considered this haphazard interpolation for sectarian aims. The book demonstrates that deliberate compositional strategies make up the Saura-Sakta symbiosis found in these mirrored mahatmyas. Moreover, the author explores what he calls the "dharmic double helix" of Brahmanism, most explicitly articulated by the structural opposition between pravrtti (worldly) and nivrtti (other-worldy) dharmas. As the first narrative study of the Surya Mahatmya, along with the first study of the Markandeya Purana (or any Purana), as a narrative whole, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of Religion, Hindu Studies, South Asian Studies, Goddess Studies, Narrative Theory and Comparative Mythology.

Juvencus' Evangeliorum libri IV, or "The Four Books of the Gospels," is a verse rendering of the gospel narrative written ca. 330 CE. Consisting of around 3200 hexameter lines, it is the first of the Latin "Biblical epics" to appear in antiquity, and the first classicizing, hexameter poem on a Christian topic to appear in the western tradition. As such, it is an important text in literary and cultural history. This is the first English translation of the entire poem. The lack of a full English translation has kept many scholars and students, particularly those outside of Classics, and many educated general readers from discovering it. With a thorough introduction to aid in the interpretation and appreciation of the text this clear and accessible English translation will enable a clearer understanding of the importance of Juvencus' work to later Latin poetry and to the early Church.

The present study is concerned with the textual history of the Books of Samuel and of Kings, about which scholars have still not been able to agree. Various textual forms can be identified in these books, in both the Hebrew (MT, Qumran) and the Greek texts (a oeKaige Recensiona, a oeThe Antiochian Texta ). The text forms and their history are first analysed in more detail using 2 Sam 15:1-19:9. Working from this, the study then takes an overall view of the Books of Samuel and of Kings. Finally, a textual history is reconstructed from the 2nd Century BC up to the Middle Ages.

The Greeks are on trial. They have been for generations, if not millennia, fromRome in the first century, to Romanticism in the nineteenth. We debate the place of the Greeks in the university curriculum, in New World culture--we even debate the place of the Greeks in the European Union. This book notices the lingering and half-hidden presence of the Greeks in some strange places--everywhere from the US Supreme Court to the Modern Olympic Games--and in so doing makes an important new contribution to a very old debate.

Thomas Harrison presents a study of the religious beliefs of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus - his beliefs in divine retribution, in oracles and divination, in miracles or in fate. The author shows not only how such beliefs were central to his work, but also how they were compatible with lived experience.

Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore is the first comprehensive study of the nymph in the ancient Greek world. This well-illustrated book examines nymphs as both religious and mythopoetic figures, tracing their development and significance in Greek culture from Homer through the Hellenistic period. The book includes a survey of the evidence for myths and cults of the nymphs arranged by geographical region, as well as a special section on the worship of nymphs in caves throughout the Greek world.