Download or read book The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours written by Gregory Nagy and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-01-10 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to be a hero? The ancient Greeks who gave us Achilles and Odysseus had a very different understanding of the term than we do today. Based on the legendary Harvard course that Gregory Nagy has taught for well over thirty years, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours explores the roots of Western civilization and offers a masterclass in classical Greek literature. We meet the epic heroes of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, but Nagy also considers the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the songs of Sappho and Pindar, and the dialogues of Plato. Herodotus once said that to read Homer was to be a civilized person. To discover Nagy’s Homer is to be twice civilized. “Fascinating, often ingenious... A valuable synthesis of research finessed over thirty years.” —Times Literary Supplement “Nagy exuberantly reminds his readers that heroes—mortal strivers against fate, against monsters, and...against death itself—form the heart of Greek literature... [He brings] in every variation on the Greek hero, from the wily Theseus to the brawny Hercules to the ‘monolithic’ Achilles to the valiantly conflicted Oedipus.” —Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly

Download or read book The Sacrificial Rituals of Greek Hero Cults in the Archaic to the Early Hellenistic Period written by Gunnel Ekroth and published by Presses universitaires de Liège. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study questions the traditional view of sacrifices in hero-cults during the Archaic to the early Hellenistic periods. The analysis of the epigraphical and literary evidence for sacrifices to heroes in these periods shows, contrary to the traditional notion, that the main ritual in hero-cults was a thysia at which the worshippers consumed the meat from the animal victim. A particular handling of the animal’s blood or a holocaust, rituals previously taken to be typical for heroes, can rarely be documented and must be considered as marginal features in hero-cults. The terms eschara, escharon, bothros, enagizein, enagisma, enagismos and enagisterion, believed to be characteristic for hero-cults, are seldom used in hero-contexts before the Roman period and occur mainly in the Byzantine lexicographers and in the scholia. Since the main kind of sacrifice in hero-cults was a thysia, a ritual intimately connected with the social structure of society, the heroes must have fulfilled the same role as the gods within the Greek religious system. The fact that the heroes were dead seems to have been of little significance for the sacrificial rituals and it is questionable whether the rituals of hero-cults are to be considered as originating in the cult of the dead.

Download or read book Ancient Greek Hero Cult written by Robin Hägg and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Hero Cult written by Harald Haarmann and published by Harrassowitz. This book was released on 2021-04-28 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hero cult is at the very core of western civilization. Does this characteristic feature originate in the milieu of Greek civilization of antiquity, with an early manifestation in Homer's epic Iliad? No. In fact, its dates back at least 7000 years, and the beginnings are associated with the warrior caste of the Proto-Indo-European pastoralists in the Eurasian steppe who started to migrate into the vast region of Old Europe. With them the cult of heroes entered and changed civilization. With their patriarchal structure and clear hierarchy the Indo-Europeans from the Eurasian steppe took advantage or their warrior caste and won the fusion process with the ancient Europeans. First slowly over generations then rapidly life in Old Europe changed from a peaceful egalitarian system to a patriarchal class system with the important class of warriors.What the newcomers maintained from the Old European order were the goddesses. The veneration of goddesses continued to be a vital part of life and additionally, goddesses were now seen as patrons to the warriors accompanying and protecting them on their way to become heroes. One of these pre-Greek goddesses stands out among all the other daughters of the Goddess of Old Europe, and this is Athena. The interaction of this pre-Greek goddess with the Indo-European heroes will be highlighted in particular. The contrast between the earliest advanced culture in human history and the ideology of the cult of heroes may stimulate the discussion about our present and it may inspire visions for our future.

Download or read book Cults and Rites in Ancient Greece written by Michael H. Jameson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-16 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Gender and Immortality written by Deborah Lyons and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the topic of ancient Greek hero cult has been the focus of considerable discussion among classicists. Little attention, however, has been paid to female heroized figures. Here Deborah Lyons argues for the heroine as a distinct category in ancient Greek religious ideology and daily practice. The heroine, she believes, must be located within a network of relations between male and female, mortal and immortal. Using evidence ranging from Homeric epic to Attic vase painting to ancient travel writing, she attempts to re-integrate the feminine into our picture of Greek notions of the hero. According to Lyons, heroines differ from male heroes in several crucial ways, among which is the ability to cross the boundaries between mortal and immortal. She further shows that attention to heroines clarifies fundamental Greek ideas of mortal/immortal relationships. The book first discusses heroines both in relation to heroes and as a separate religious and mythic phenomenon. It examines the cultural meanings of heroines in ritual and representation, their use as examples for mortals, and their typical "biographies." The model of "ritual antagonism," in which two mythic figures represented as hostile share a cult, is ultimately modified through an exploration of the mythic correspondences between the god Dionysos and the heroines surrounding him, and through a rethinking of the relationship between Iphigeneia and Artemis. An appendix, which identifies more than five hundred heroines, rounds out this lively work. Originally published in 1997. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Download or read book Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality written by Lewis Richard Farnell and published by . This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Elibron Classics title is a reprint of the original edition published by the Clarendon Press in Oxford, 1921.

Download or read book Pindar and the Cult of Heroes written by Bruno Currie and published by Oxford Classical Monographs. This book was released on 2005 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pindar and the Cult of Heroes takes a radical new look at the veneration and cult of heroic men, living and dead, in ancient Greece. Bruno Currie finds the roots of the Hellenistic ruler cult, and hence Roman emperor cult, in the 5th century BC (and earlier). Pindar's victory odes represent a crucial stage in this process. Currie also offers a major re-evaluation of the epinician genre and extensive studies of five of Pindar's odes.

Download or read book Ancient Greek Cults written by Jennifer Larson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-05-07 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using archaeological, epigraphic, and literary sources; and incorporating current scholarly theories, this volume will serve as an excellent companion to any introduction to Greek mythology, showing a side of the Greek gods to which most students are rarely exposed. Detailed enough to be used as a quick reference tool or text, and providing a readable account focusing on the oldest, most widespread, and most interesting religious practices of the ancient Greek world in the Archaic and Classical periods, Ancient Greek Cults surveys ancient Greek religion through the cults of its gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines. Jennifer Larson conveniently summarizes a vast amount of material in many languages, normally inaccessible to undergrad students, and explores, in detail, the variety of cults celebrated by the Greeks, how these cults differed geographically, and how each deity was conceptualized in local cult titles and rituals. Including an introductory chapter on sources and methods, and suggestions for further reading this book will allow readers to gain a fresh perspective on Greek religion.

Download or read book Heroes written by Michael John Anderson and published by Walters Art Gallery. This book was released on 2009 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume investigates the integral role of heroes in ancient Greek art and culture. More than a hundred statues, reliefs, vases, bronzes, coins, and gems drawn from European and American collections, illustrate the ways in which heroes were represented, why they were important in Greek culture, and what encouraged individuals to seek them out." --Book Jacket.

Download or read book An Archaeology of Ancestors written by Carla Maria Antonaccio and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1995 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this fresh consideration of the origins of the ancient Greeks' ideas and practices concerning their own past, Carla M. Antonaccio demonstrates that hero cult and ancestor cult persisted, throughout the Iron Age, long before epic poetry's heroic narratives were widely disseminated. Although it was not until the dissolution of Iron Age societies that epic poetry and organized hero cult developed to aid claims to legitimacy, practices such as visiting tombs to make offerings were common, and contradict the usual picture of Iron Age religious conservatism.

Download or read book Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality written by Lewis Richard Farnell and published by . This book was released on 1921 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion written by Esther Eidinow and published by Oxford Handbooks. This book was released on 2015 with total page 737 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook offers both students and teachers of ancient Greek religion a comprehensive overview of the current state of scholarship in the subject, from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods. It not only presents key information, but also explores the ways in which such information is gathered and the different approaches that have shaped the area. In doing so, the volume provides a crucial research and orientation tool for students of the ancient world, and also makes a vital contribution to the key debates surrounding the conceptualization of ancient Greek religion. The handbook's initial chapters lay out the key dimensions of ancient Greek religion, approaches to evidence, and the representations of myths. The following chapters discuss the continuities and differences between religious practices in different cultures, including Egypt, the Near East, the Black Sea, and Bactria and India. The range of contributions emphasizes the diversity of relationships between mortals and the supernatural - in all their manifestations, across, between, and beyond ancient Greek cultures - and draws attention to religious activities as dynamic, highlighting how they changed over time, place, and context.

Download or read book Baby and Child Heroes in Ancient Greece written by Corinne Ondine Pache and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Baby and Child Heroes in Ancient Greece is the first systematic study of the considerable number of Greek babies and children who became enduring myths, objects of worship, and the recipients of sacrifice." "Examining literary, pictorial, and numismatic representations, Pache opens up a vast territory once occupied by children such as Charila, Opheltes, Melikertes, and the children of Hercules and Medea. She argues that the stories, songs, and sanctuaries honoring these heroes express parental fears and guilt about children's death."--Jacket.

Download or read book The Best of the Achaeans written by Gregory Nagy and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Sacrificial Rituals of Greek Hero cults in the Archaic to the Early Hellenistic Periods written by Gunnel Ekroth and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Companion to Greek Religion written by Daniel Ogden and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major addition to Blackwell’s Companions to the Ancient World series covers all aspects of religion in the ancient Greek world from the archaic, through the classical and into the Hellenistic period. Written by a panel of international experts Focuses on religious life as it was experienced by Greek men and women at different times and in different places Features major sections on local religious systems, sacred spaces and ritual, and the divine