Kate Tempest is one of the most exciting and innovative performers to have emerged in spoken-word poetry in many years; her dramatic poem Brand New Ancients won the prestigious Ted Hughes Prize for innovation in poetry. Tempest's wholly unique blend of street poetry, rap and storytelling - combined with the spellbinding delivery of an open-air revivalist - has won her legions of followers all over the UK. Her remarkable stage presence is wholly audible in this poem, a spoken story written to be told with live music. Brand New Ancients is the tale of two families and their intertwining lives, set against the background of the city and braided with classical myth. Here, Tempest shows how the old myths still live on in our everyday acts of violence, bravery, sacrifice and love - and that our lives make tales no less dramatic and powerful than those of the old gods.

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.

The idea of 'north' suggests much more than wintry cold, ice and snow. To many, it hints at something magical, enchanting and mysterious. This book explores the spiritual aspect of this attraction through a survey of ancient history, Norse mythology and contemporary studies of earth mysteries and sacred sites. From her detailed research, Margaret Jonas traces the birth of Celtic Christianity in the British Isles, Ireland, Scandinavia and Germany, revealing a time when ancient prophecies relating to the sun and divine beings came to fulfilment. A new spiritual wisdom gradually spread across Europe - not only from the south northwards, but also from west eastwards. The author describes how a paradisiacal element from the earliest stages of earth evolution was preserved and nurtured in hidden places associated with the northern mysteries. This fascinating work of accessible scholarship features chapters on Hyperborea, Thule and Apollo; the Druids and Odinic Mysteries; Norway and the Celtic Christian Legacy; the Number Five and the Etheric Body; the Externsteine and the God Vidar, and Finland. The book concludes with hints of a future time when northern magic will be transformed, and '...new clairvoyant faculties will be within the reach of all humanity'.

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.

In Bodies of Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia Matthew Rutz explores the relationship between ancient collections of texts, commonly deemed libraries and archives, and the modern interpretation of titles like 'diviner'. By looking at cuneiform tablets as artifacts with archaeological contexts, this work probes the modern analytical categories used to study ancient diviners and investigates the transmission of Babylonian/Assyrian scholarship in Syria. During the Late Bronze Age diviners acted as high-ranking scribes and cultic functionaries in Emar, a town on the Syrian Euphrates (ca. 1375-1175 BCE). This book's centerpiece is an extensive analytical catalogue of the excavated tablet collection of one family of diviners. Over seventy-five fragments are identified for the first time, along with many proposed joins between fragments.

In this unique reference work, Roman religion is finally accorded its due and set in its full context. Dictionary of Roman Religion contains more than 1,400 entries. Among the topics covered are deities and spirits, festivals, sacrifices, temples, altars, cult objects, burial rites, writers on religion, and historical religious events. Different religions within the Roman world, such as Mithraism, Druidism, Judaism, and Christianity, are also discussed. Illustrated, cross-referenced, and featuring a bibliography and glossary, this dictionary is both comprehensive and essential for students and researchers. The essays and suggestions for further reading also make this appealing to all who are interested in ancient religions, myths, and legends.

The Dictionary of Classical Mythology is a unique companion to the ancient Greek and Roman myths and legends. The story of every character, whether human or divine, major or minor, is retold in this book, detailing every version and variation. Naiads, dryads, hamadryads, nymphs, fauns, satyrs and centaurs - the different types of mythological figures are distinguished and fitted into the overall pattern of legendary events and the places where these happened such as Olympus, Arcadia, Troy, Crete and Parnassus are identified and described.Forty genealogical tables explain the complex and often bizarre relationships between interlocking families of gods and people. Wherever appropriate the entries are illustrated with antique paintings, ceramics, coins, sculpture and mosaics. Maps of the Greek and Roman world and photographs of ancient sites provide a guide to the topography of classical mythology. An exhaustive reference section lists every mention of each character in classical literature: this alone makes the book an essential source of reference for scholars.The Dictionary will be an essential companion to the study of Western literature and art, a significant part of which has always been concerned with the ancient myths and legends as a source of both subject matter and allusion. But above all this book is a fascinating and readable guide to the rich and diverse legends and mythologies of the classical world.

"Viking Language 1 - Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas" provides everything necessary to learn Old Norse, runes, and tackle Icelandic sagas. Graded lessons, saga readings, runic inscriptions, grammar exercises, pronunciation, maps, cultural sections, student guide, and vocabulary teach Old Norse and about Vikings, Iceland, old Scandinavia, myths and legends. ----- Download FREE ANSWER KEY on www.vikinglanguage.com ----- Now available, two audio MP3 download OLD NORSE PRONUNCIATION ALBUMS "VIKING LANGUAGE 1: AUDIO LESSONS 1-8: (Pronounce Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas)" and "Viking Language 1: Audio Lessons 9-15." To find search "Viking Language audio lessons" under "all departments" and "MP3 music." Also CDbaby and Itunes. ----- VISIT www.vikinglanguage.com for information about the "Viking Language Series" and for samples of the audio readings ---- Forthcoming soon "Viking Language 2 The Old Norse Reader" including, prose selections, complete sagas, poems of the Scandinavian gods and heroes, Old Norse runes, reference grammar, and vocabulary.

Illustrated in b/w with 109 figures, 69 plates and 9 tables. Collections of scenes and texts designated variously as the "Book of the Earth," "Creation of the Solar Disc," and "Book of Aker" were inscribed on the walls of royal sarcophagus chambers throughout Egypt's Ramessid period (Dynasties 19-20). This material illustrated discrete episodes from the nocturnal voyage of the sun god, which functioned as a model for the resurrection of the deceased king. These earliest "Books of the Earth" employed mostly ad hoc arrangements of scenes, united by shared elements of iconography, an overarching, bipartite symmetry of composition, and their frequent pairing with representations of the double sky overhead. From the Twenty-First Dynasty and later, selections of programmatic tableaux were adapted for use in private mortuary contexts, often in conjunction with innovative or previously unattested annotations. The present study collects and analyses all currently known Book of the Earth material, including discussions of iconography, grammar, orthography, and architectural setting.

This is a book about the religious life of the Greeks from archaic times to the fifth century AD, looked at in the context of a variety of different cities and periods. Simon Price examines local practices and concepts in the light of general Greek ideas, relating them to such issues as gender roles, political life, and the trial of Socrates. He lays emphasis on the reactions to Greek religions of ancient thinkers--Greek, Roman and Christian. The evidence drawn on is of all kinds: literary, inscriptional and archaeological.

A witty, inspiring reckoning with the ancient Greek and Roman myths and their legacy, from what they can illuminate about #MeToo to the radical imagery of Beyonce. The picture of classical antiquity most of us learned in school is framed in certain ways -- glossing over misogyny while omitting the seeds of feminist resistance. Many of today's harmful practices, like school dress codes, exploitation of the environment, and rape culture, have their roots in the ancient world. But in Antigone Rising, classicist Helen Morales reminds us that the myths have subversive power because they are told -- and read -- in different ways. Through these stories, whether it's Antigone's courageous stand against tyranny or the indestructible Caeneus, who inspires trans and gender queer people today, Morales uncovers hidden truths about solidarity, empowerment, and catharsis. Antigone Rising offers a fresh understanding of the stories we take for granted, showing how we can reclaim them to challenge the status quo, spark resistance, and rail against unjust regimes.

The two great Persian invasions of Greece, in 490 and 480-79 B.C., both repulsed by the Greeks, provide our best opportunity for understanding the interplay of religion and history in ancient Greece. Using the Histories of Herodotus as well as other historical and archaeological sources, Jon Mikalson shows how the Greeks practiced their religion at this pivotal moment in their history. In the period of the invasions and the years immediately after, the Greeks - internationally, state by state, and sometimes individually - turned to their deities, using religious practices to influence, understand, and commemorate events that were threatening their very existence. Greeks prayed and sacrificed; made and fulfilled vows to the gods; consulted oracles; interpreted omens and dreams; created cults, sanctuaries, and festivals; and offered dozens of dedications to their gods and heroes - all in relation to known historical events. By portraying the human situations and historical circumstances in which Greeks practiced their religion, Mikalson advances our knowledge of the role of religion in fifth-century Greece and reveals a religious dimension of the Persian Wars that has been previously overlooked. The two great Persian invasions of Greece, in 490 and 480-79 B.C., both repulsed by the Greeks, provide our best opportunity for understanding the interplay of religion and history in ancient Greece. By showing how the Greeks practiced their religion at this pivotal moment in their history, Jon Mikalson reveals a religious dimension of the Persian Wars that has been previously overlooked.

The twentieth century has seen a remarkable revival of 'the Old Religion, ' as adherents of New-paganism call the native religious traditions of Europe and tribal traditions from North America that predated Christianity. Many neo-pagan groups identify with Celtic (Druidic), Egyptian, Native American, Norse, or Roman traditions; others with modern science-fiction motifs; and still others with witchcraft. Neo-paganism is occultic in nature. A central figure in much of Neo-paganism is the Mother Goddess, who has been introduced and worshiped among certain feminists even in some mainline Protestant churches. Why this series? This is an age when countless groups and movements, old and new, mark the religious landscape in our culture, leaving many people confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because few people have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, these books provide essential information and insights for their spiritual journeys. Each book has five sections: - A concise introduction to the group - An overview of the group's theology -- in its own words - Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group - A bibliography with sources for further study - A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -- The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help us discern religious truth from falsehood. This is an age when countless groups and movements, new and old, mark the religious landscape in our culture. As a result, many people are confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because few people have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements series provides essential information and insights for their spiritual journeys. The second wave of books in this series addresses a broad range of spiritual beliefs, from non-Trinitarian Christian sects to witchcraft and neo-paganism to classic non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. All books but the summary volume, Truth and Error, contain five sections: -A concise introduction to the group being surveyed -An overview of the group s theology --- in its own words -Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group -A bibliography with sources for further study -A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -- Truth and Error, the last book in the series, consists of parallel doctrinal charts compiled from all the other volumes. Three distinctives make this series especially useful to readers: -Information is carefully distilled to bring out truly essential points, rather than requiring readers to sift their way through a sea of secondary details. -Information is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow outline form with menu bar running heads. This format greatly assists the reader in quickly locating topics and details of interest. -Each book meets the needs and skill levels of both nontechnical and technical readers, providing an elementary level of refutation and progressing to a more advanced level using arguments based on the biblical text. The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help readers to discern truth from falsehood."

John Van Auken combines the collection of Egyptian past lives found in the Cayce readings with Egyptian legends that appear in papyruses, on temple walls, and in pyramid texts for a complete picture that reveals the full story of priestesses, healers, female pharaohs, and gods among humans. This book includes more than 80 illustrations with Cayce's insights into the pyramids, ancient flight, the Hall of Records, the Great Initiate, and the seven stages of soul growth.

It is unknown, of course, who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, since, in general, no reliable contemporary description of how these two epics came into being is to be found. Such sources as there are - first and foremost, the two poems themselves - must be interpreted in a comparative framework built on experience from societies in the modern world that are in some respects similar to archaic Greece in order to reach a coherent picture of the process. The oral-formulaic theory, formed by Milman Parry (1902-1935) and Albert B. Lord (1912-1991), not only revolutionized Homeric studies, but also had an impact on anthropology and folklore. This led to an increased interest in oral epic traditions, and fieldworkers changed their methods towards a focus on composition in performance. The individual singer and his handling of the tradition gained importance. When possible, more than one performance of the "same" song was recorded - by the same singer on different occasions or by different singers - and interaction with the audience was documented. Traditions of the oral epic still exist in many parts of the world, and, during recent decades, quite a few of them have been documented and analyzed by innovative fieldworkers, leading to an overwhelming expansion of accessible knowledge of how oral epic works. Writing Homer explores what this means to the Parry-Lord-theory in general and the 'Homeric Question' in particular. The relationship between the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Homeric Hymns, with the tradition of which they are part, can now be described with much more precision than before. It turns out that there is nothing unusual in very long oral epics; what is unusual is that such poems are recorded in writing. The process by which this must have taken place is discussed in detail. Old problems, such as the fact that neither illustrations of Trojan stories nor early 'quotations' agree with the written poems, can be solved. Writing Homer achieves a deeper understanding of the methods at work in the oral epic for building a likely social context of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and especially for speculating on the circumstances of the writing of the two great poems. Long oral narratives are flexible, and accordingly, the dictation to scribes that must be at the origin of the texts, which have been preserved in writing to this day, was a process of the utmost importance as was the composition in performance of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Writing Homer is directed at classical scholars, but will also be of interest to a much broader readership: folklorists, anthropologists, and whoever enjoys reading Homer in Greek, as well as in translation.

Cicero's philosophical works are now exciting renewed interest and more generous appreciation, in part because he provides vital evidence of the views of the (largely lost) Greek philosophers of the Hellenistic age, and partly because of the light he casts on the intellectual life of first-century Rome. Hellenistic philosophy has in recent years atrracted growing interest from academic philosophers in Europe and North America. The Nature of the Gods is a document of central significance in this area, for it presents a detailed account of the theologies of the Epicureans and of the Stoics, together with the critical objections to these doctrines raised by the Academic school. hen these Greek theories of deity are translated into the Roman context, a fascinating clash of ideologies results.

Nine short essays exploring the K'iche' Maya story of creation, the Popol Vuh. Written during the lockdown in Chicago in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, these essays consider the Popol Vuh as a work that was also written during a time of feverish social, political, and epidemiological crisis as Spanish missionaries and colonial military deepened their conquest of indigenous peoples and cultures in Mesoamerica. What separates the Popol Vuh from many other creation texts is the disposition of the gods engaged in creation. Whereas the book of Genesis is declarative in telling the story of the world's creation, the Popol Vuh is interrogative and analytical: the gods, for example, question whether people actually need to be created, given the many perfect animals they have already placed on earth. Emergency uses the historical emergency of the Popol Vuh to frame the ongoing emergencies of colonialism that have surfaced all too clearly in the global health crisis of COVID-19. In doing so, these essays reveal how the authors of the Popol Vuh-while implicated in deep social crisis-nonetheless insisted on transforming emergency into scenes of social, political, and intellectual emergence, translating crisis into creativity and world creation.

Today, conversion is a contested religious, political, and personal phenomenon, and that was also the case in the ancient world. Using several primary sources (Jewish and Christian) and case studies, this volume discusses what this change could have meant for various individuals or groups of people in the ancient world and argues that conversion can best be understood through an intersectional perspective, an approach that includes gender, class, ethnicity, and age, as well as political and economic elements in its analysis of conversion. The volume also acknowledges that a discussion of conversion benefits from taking into account conversion's history of reception. Case studies from the reception history as well as contemporary examples of contested conversions (for example, from Christianity to Islam or vice versa) are also brought to the table. In sum, the book addresses the complexity of conversion, using a range of cases, texts and theories, and initiates a dialogue between ancient sources and present concepts or practices. Close readings of ancient texts play a central role in the project. Yet, the book also considers how sacred texts and their receptions have influenced the way we generally think about conversation as religious change.

Few books on love can claim to make significant contributions to our understanding both of ancient views on eros and its place in the Christian tradition. On the basis of a new and sympathetic reading of Plato, Catherine Osborne shows that the long-standing distrust of eros, rather than agape, as a model for the believer's relation to God in Christian thought derives from a misunderstanding of ancient thought on love. Focusing on a number of classic texts, including Plato's Symposium and Lysis, Aristotle's Ethics and Metaphysics, and famous passages in Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, Dionysius the Areopagite, Plotinus, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas, she shows that love is not motivated by a need that seeks fulfilment. On the contrary, Dr Osborne argues, to seek a motive for love, whether in Plato's account or our own, is to pursue a philosophical confusion. To mention love is to mention the motive that explains our response of affection or devotion or desire; the response cannot be the motive for our love, but is an attitude that belongs in a vision of the beloved transfigured by love. It is for this reason that we have to restore the image of Cupid, whose mischievous darts picture the impossiblity of seeking some further grounds or explanation for love.

This volume publishes in full for the first time all known cuneiform manuscripts of an Akkadian calendar treatise that is unified by the theme of Babylonia's invasion. It was composed in the milieu of Marduk's Esagil temple in Babylon, probably in the Hellenistic period before c. 170 BC. Esagil rituals are presented as essential to protect Babylonia, and specifically Marduk's principal cult statue, from foreign attack. The treatise builds the case by drawing on traditional and late Babylonian cuneiform scholarship, including astronomy-astrology, accounts of warfare with Elam and Assyria, battle myths of Marduk and Ninurta, and wordplay. Calendrical sections contain an amalgam of apotropaic ritual against invasion, astrological omens of invasion as ritual triggers, past conflicts as historical precedent, divine combatants representing human foes, and sophisticated exegesis. The work is partially preserved on damaged clay tablets in the British Museum's Babylonian collection and the volume presents hand-drawn cuneiform copies, a composite edition, and a manuscript score. A comprehensive contextualizing introduction provides readers in a range of fields - including Assyriology, classics and ancient history, ancient Iranian studies, Biblical studies, and ancient astronomy and astrology - with a key overview of topics in Mesopotamian scholarship, the manuscripts themselves, and their language and orthography. A detailed commentary explores how the treatise aims to demonstrate the critical importance of the traditional Esagil temple in Babylon for the security of Babylonia and its later imperial rulers.

This is an account of the foundation legend of Rome, how the twins Remus and Romulus were miraculously suckled by a she-wolf, and how Romulus founded Rome and Remus was killed at the moment of the foundation. What does the story mean? Why have a twin, if he has to be killed off? This is the first historical analysis of the origins and development of the myth, and it offers important insights into the nature of pre-imperial Rome and the ways in which myths could be created and elaborated in a nonliterate society.

The early medieval manuscripts of Ireland and Britain have preserved tantalizing clues pertaining to the cosmology, religion and mythology of native Celtic cultures. In this unique collection of new studies and translations, ancient source materials and research from the fields of archaeology, linguistics and comparative religion illuminate the depths of these indigenous beliefs and practices. The book focuses on three themes-Cosmology, Sovereignty and Liminality-and explores sacred origins, three cosmic realms, four directions and the World Tree, seasonal cycles, religious practitioners, goddess figures, and the acquisition of poetic inspiration and Otherworld wisdom. An excellent resource for students of Celtic mythology and religion, Irish, Scottish and Welsh folklore, comparative religion, world mythology, Goddess studies, and those interested in their Celtic heritage.

Celestial divination, in the form of omens from lunar, planetary, astral, and meteorological phenomena, was central to Mesopotamian cuneiform scholarship and science from the late second millennium BCE into the Hellenistic period. Beyond the boundaries of ancient Mesopotamia, the ideas, texts, and traditions of Babylonian celestial divination are traceable in Hellenistic sciences and philosophies. This collection of essays investigates features of Babylonian celestial divination with special focus on those aspects that influenced later Greco-Roman astronomy, astrology, and theories of signs. A multi-faceted collection of philological, historical, and philosophical investigations, In the Path of the Moon offers Assyriologists, Classicists, and historians of ancient science a wide-ranging series of studies unified around the theme of Babylonian celestial divination's legacy. "The collected essays in this volume, successive steps in an ordered path, constitute an invaluable contribution to a better understanding of Babylonian divination." Lorenzo Verderame, "Sapienza" Universita di Roma "The reader interested in the multifaceted presentation of the problems related to the explanation of Babylonian celestial divination and well equipped with the knowledge of Akkadian will certainly be rewarded by the study of Rochberg's latest publication." Henryk Drawnel, SDB