Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits

by Luck, Georg

• ISBN13: 9780472107902
• ISBN10: 0472107909
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

Among the most thoughtful students of the ancient world, Georg Luck has offered subtle and nuanced interpretations of a broad range of classical subjects.Ancient Pathways, Hidden Pursuitsbrings together the best of Georg Luck's many papers and articles on Graeco-Roman life and thought in the realm of religious beliefs, occult practices, psychology, and morals. The collection complements Luck'sArcana Mundi, an introduction to magic and the occult in antiquity, which has been published in several languages. The present volume includes the author's thoughts on Greek and Roman religions, early Christianity, Greek and Roman psychology and morals, and magic and the occult. Luck's main findings explore generally neglected areas of ancient civilization, locating magic and philosophy with religion as vehicles for moral and psychological guidance. Throughout this study, one finds meaning in "superstitious" and conflicting patterns of behavior and learns much about the nature of the human soul. This collection will serve as a valuable reference for those interested in the driving motivations of ancient man. "The topics of the individual articles in this volume are very central and of great humanistic appeal, and they indeed form a thematic unity concerning man and religion in Greek and Roman society." --Ludwig Koenen, Herbert C. Youtie Distinguished University Professor of Papyrology, University of Michigan Georg Luck is Professor of Classics, emeritus, The Johns Hopkins University.

Author Biography

Georg Luck is Professor of Classics, emeritus, The Johns Hopkins University.

Table of Contents

Review of E.R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational	1	(7)
King Midas and the Orphic Mysteries	8	(8)
Virgil and the Mystery Religions	16	(19)
Review of Paul Rabbow, Seelenfuhrung: Methodik der Exerzitien in der Antike	35	(4)
Panaetius and Menander	39	(12)
Epicurus and His Gods	51	(9)
Was Lucretius Really Mad?	60	(6)
The Muses in Roman Poetry	66	(9)
Notes on the History of Lat. Sapientia	75	(11)
Studia Divina in Vita Humana: On Cicero's Dream of Scipio and Its Place in Graeco-Roman Philosophy	86	(12)
On Cicero De fato 5 and Related Passages	98	(3)
A Stoic Cosmogony in Manilius (1.149--72)	101	(9)
Theurgy and Forms of Worship in Neoplatonism	110	(43)
The ``Way Out'': Philological Notes on the Transfiguration of Jesus	153	(13)
The Literary Form of Suetonius' Biographies and the Early Lives of Saints	166	(15)
Notes on the Vita Macrinae of Gregory of Nyssa	181	(10)
The Doctrine of Salvation in the Hermetic Writings	191	(12)
Recent Work on Ancient Magic	203	(20)
Magic, Miracle, and Salvation: The Spiritual Journey of Apuleius	223	(16)
Palladas: Christian or Pagan?	239	(18)
Two Predictions of the End of Paganism	257	(5)
Humor in Pagan Culture and in the Early Church	262	(21)
Index of Greek Words	283	(4)
Index of Latin Words	287	(2)
Index of Ancient Texts and Passages	289	(16)
Index of Names and Subjects	305