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Decoding the Night - Greek Myth as a Celestial Map (Paperback)
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Decoding the Night - Greek Myth as a Celestial Map (Paperback)
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"The heavens are full of gods, to whom we give the names of stars."
- Aristotle Decoding the Night is a scholarly exploration of the
astronomical basis of Greek myth and religion. Ancient Greeks
relied on the steady movements of the stars for an accurate
calendar and for navigation at sea or in other unmarked territory.
What may have started as a practical, graphic tool for identifying
the stars developed into an oral tradition of stories that have
become Greek myth. The astronomical information became sacred not
only for its practical value, but also because it represented an
unchanging and perfect universe untouched by the vicissitudes of
life on earth. Seeded by the original idea that "immortal" gods
refers to circumpolar stars, who reside at the "highest seat of
heaven," or North Celestial Pole, a map of the night sky has
emerged from works by ancient authors, which places Greek myth in a
logical and concrete context. The North Celestial Pole, as the
pivot point of all stellar movement, was considered the most sacred
and immutable part of the heavens. Mount Olympus to the Greeks, was
the home of the "immortal gods," because those stars were always
visible in the night sky. "Dying and resurrected" gods were found
at lower latitudes, where their annual disappearance below the
horizon, was considered a death and entrance into the Underworld.
Resurrection occurred at the helical rising of that star/god months
or days later. The "death and resurrection" of rise and set stars
were the foundation of the Greek religious calendar and ceremonies.
The Greeks and other ancient cultures aimed not simply to appease
their gods, but used ceremony to mimic the heavens and bring the
divine order above down to earth. Decoding the Night leads the
reader through the astronomical, geographical, and cultural
framework of ancient Greece, which lends new meaning to many facets
of myth. The primary constellations are discussed as
representatives of well-known gods and goddesses, with the
connections and similarities richly illustrated in myth, sculpture,
and other art.
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