Religions of the Ancient Greeks

by Simon Price

• ISBN13: 9780521388672
• ISBN10: 0521388678
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-06-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This is a book about the religious life of the Greeks from the eighth century BC to the fifth century AD, looked at in the context of a variety of different cities and periods. Simon Price does not describe some abstract and self-contained system of religion or myths but examines local practices and ideas in the light of general Greek ideas, relating them for example, to gender roles and to cultural and political life (including Attic tragedy and the trial of Socrates). He also lays emphasis on the reactions to Greek religions of ancient thinkers - Greek, Roman, Jewish and Christian. The evidence drawn on is of all kinds: literary texts, which are translated throughout; inscriptions, including an appendix of newly translated Greek inscriptions; and archaeology, which is highlighted in the numerous illustrations.

Author Biography

Simon Price is Fellow and Tutor at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

Table of Contents

List of figures	vi
Preface	ix
List of abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(10)
Gods, myths and festivals	11	(36)
Religious places	47	(20)
Authority, control and crisis	67	(22)
Girls and boys, women and men	89	(19)
Elective cults	108	(18)
Greek thinkers	126	(17)
Reactions to Greek religions	143	(29)
Appendix of Greek inscriptions in translation	172	(11)
Bibliographical essay	183	(3)
Bibliography	186	(24)
Index	210