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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Pre-Christian European & Mediterranean religions
The history and partnership of the Angles and Saxons are explored in this thrilling adventure about the trials and tribulations of their settlement in Britain. Written by bestselling author Tony Bradman, this coming of age tale is perfect for fans of Rosemary Sutcliff and will have readers gripped from start to finish.
Oslaf works hard to prove his worth in the village: he labours on the farm, he trains as a warrior and he is slowly finding his place in the community. But when the Chieftain makes the decision to move the village across the sea to the great new land of Britannia, suddenly the Britons are a greater threat than Oslaf's rivalry with the Chieftain's son, Wermund. Can the Angles and the Saxons defeat the Britons? And will Oslaf be as brave as the hero in the tale of Beowulf?
This exciting and dramatic story is packed with great characters and insight into the Angles' migration, settlement and partnership with the Saxons in 6th century Britain. The Flashbacks series offers dramatic stories set in key moments of history, perfect for introducing children to historical topics.
The Naked Goddess can take on various forms: mistress of animals, seductress, fertility figure, even monster. Nudity, however, has a consistent message: power. This book explores the power of naked females in the art of the Levant and Early Greece, tracing the path and transformation of these magical symbols from their place of origin to Crete and the mainland. The Goddess and the Warrior presents a stimulating, provocative and lavishly illustrated analysis of the role of the naked goddess and the mistress of the animals within Greek religion. eBook available with sample pages: 0203462858
The definitive and comprehensive edition of Robert Graves's classic
retelling of the Greek myths 'Icarus disobeyed his father's
instructions and began soaring towards the sun, rejoiced by the
lift of his great sweeping wings. Presently, when Daedalus looked
over his shoulder, he could no longer see Icarus; but scattered
feathers floated on the waves below...' These are the greatest
stories ever told - the labours of Hercules, the voyage of the
Argonauts, Theseus and the minotaur, Midas and his golden touch,
the Trojan War and Odysseus's journey home - brought together into
one epic and unforgettable story. Ideal for the first time reader,
it can be read as a single page-turning narrative, while full
commentaries as well as a comprehensive index of names make it
equally valuable for anyone seeking an authoritative and detailed
account of the spectacular stories that make up the bedrock of
Western literature. The Greek Myths is a classic among classics, a
treasure trove of extraordinary tales and a masterful work of
literature in its own right.
Contents: 1. Introduction, Deities and their Worshippers, 2. The Gamos of Hera: Myth and Ritual, Isabelle Clark, 3. Domesticating Artemis, Susan Cole, Objects of Worship, 4. Marriage and the Maiden: Narratives on the Parthenon, Sue Blundell, 5. Born Old or Never Young? Femininity, Childhood and the Goddesses of Ancient Greece, Lesley Beaumont, 6. The Nature of Heroines, Emily Kearns, Ritual and Gender, 7. Death Becomes Her: Gender and Athenian Death Ritual, Karen Stears, 8. In the Mirror of Dionysus, Richard Seaford, Sources and Interpreters, 9. Thesmophoria and Haloa: Myth, Physics and Mysteries, Nick Lowe
This title explores the causes of evil in myth, encompassing themes
such as defilement, the figure of the trickster, evil people both
within and outside the society, and traumatic initiations. Evil, an
undeniable yet inexplicable force in human existence, is often
defined as that which ought not to be, yet is - so it must be
destroyed, or contained, or lived with. Myths of evil function to
universalize the human condition, to show the tension between the
ideal and the real, to reveal but not allegorize that condition,
and to go some way to assist humanity in understanding, combating
and coping with evil within its societies. "Tales of Darkness"
explores the causes of evil in myth, encompassing themes such as
defilement, the figure of the trickster, evil people both within
and outside the society, and traumatic initiations. Robert Ellwood
then looks at 'cures' for evil: laughter, sacrifice, the flood, the
hero's quest, initiation, the saviour, divine wisdom and the end of
days. This is a fascinating examination of how people have dealt
with evil, not philosophically but in terms of the myths, ancient
and modern, which present stories convergent with our own, from
creation myths to Star Wars.
This textbook is endorsed by OCR and supports the specification for
A-Level Classical Civilisation (first teaching September 2017). It
covers Components 31 and 34 from the 'Beliefs and Ideas' Component
Group: Greek Religion by Athina Mitropoulos and Julietta Steinhauer
Democracy and the Athenians by Tim Morrison and James Renshaw Why
was worshipping the gods so important to ancient Greek life? To
what extent did Greeks question religious belief? How and why did
the Athenians invent democracy? How does Athenian democracy compare
with democracy today? Drawing on modern scholarship and using a
wide variety of illustrations, this book guides A-Level students to
a greater understanding of these issues. It explores the
fundamental features of Greek religion, as well as its major
centres such as Delphi and Olympia. It then moves on to analyse the
development and workings of Athenian democracy, as well as
reflecting on ancient critiques of it, both celebratory and
critical. The ideal preparation for the final examinations, all
content is presented by experts and experienced teachers in a clear
and accessible narrative. Ancient literary and visual sources are
described and analysed, with supporting images. Helpful student
features include study questions, quotations from contemporary
scholars, further reading, and boxes focusing in on key people,
events and terms. Practice questions and exam guidance prepare
students for assessment. A Companion Website is available at
www.bloomsbury.com/class-civ-as-a-level.
As a literary civilization that has been studied intensively,
ancient Egypt has yielded the outlines of its religious, political,
economic and social institutions. Yet despite the fact that much is
known about Egyptian culture, especially Egyptian religion, until
now little has been known of the actual process through which an
object of daily life, such as wine, was integrated into the
religious system. This innovative study shows how the religious
significance of wine was actually woven into rituals and how
expressions were coined, stereotyped and transmitted over a long
span of time. The study begins by examining the development of
viticulture in Egypt, the location of the vineyards, the religious
and medical use of wine and the attitude of the Egyptians towards
wine drinking. It then moves on to study representations of wine
offering from the earliest times to the Graeco-Roman period, and to
examine liturgies of wine offering both in funerary and in divine
cults. The historical and textual documentation of wine and wine
offering is then used to explore the significance of wine and wine
offering in Egyptian religion.
Revised and expanded, this volume deals with the religious
traditions of ancient Egypt. New material allows a much more
precise allocation of religious texts and ideas in terms of time,
place and social context.
How have the goddesses of ancient myth survived, prevalent even now
as literary and cultural icons? How do allegory, symbolic
interpretation, and political context transform the goddess from
her regional and individual identity into a goddess of philosophy
and literature? Emilie Kutash explores these questions, beginning
from the premise that cultural memory, a collective cultural and
social phenomenon, can last thousands of years. Kutash demonstrates
a continuing practice of interpreting and allegorizing ancient
myths, tracing these goddesses of archaic origin through history.
Chapters follow the goddesses from their ancient near eastern
prototypes, to their place in the epic poetry, drama and hymns of
classical Greece, to their appearance in Platonic and Neoplatonic
philosophy, Medieval allegory, and their association with
Christendom. Finally, Kutash considers how goddesses were made into
Jungian archetypes, and how some contemporary feminists made them a
counterfoil to male divinity, thereby addressing the continued role
of goddesses in perpetuating gender binaries.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1988) was one of the most well-known and
popular scholars of myth and comparative religion of the twentieth
century. His work, however, has never fully received the same
amount of scholarly interest and critical reflection that some of
his contemporaries have received.
In this book, based on extensive research in the Joseph Campbell
Archive in Santa Barbara, Ritske Rensma shows that reflecting on
C.G. Jung's influence on Campbell greatly furthers our
understanding of these ideas, and that once this goal is achieved
it becomes obvious that Campbell was a scholar whose ideas are
still of significance today. Following Jung's lead, Campbell put
great emphasis on the innate structures of the mind, an approach
which pre-echoes the current 'evolutionary turn' in fields such as
cognitive theory, psychology, psychiatry and neurobiology.
This study will therefore not just be of interest to students and
scholars interested in psychological approaches to the study of
religion as well as Jung and Campbell, but also to those with an
interest in recent developments in the above-mentioned fields
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