William Guthrie--Greeks and Their Gods

Description

Overview: The primary aim of this book is to serve as a kind of religious companion to the Greek classics. It does not so much set out to interest specialists as to be useful to those who enjoy Greek literature, whether original or in translation, and have made the inevitable discovery that almost every branch of it is permeated by religion. Content: Our predecessors. -- The divine family. Origins: preliminary remarks Zeus Hera Apollo Hermes Poseidon Artemis Athena Appendix: The twelve gods. -- A central problem. -- Gods and men in Homer. -- The contribution of Ionia. The poets The philosophers Conclusions so far reached. -- Dionysos. -- Apollo. -- Heaven and Earth. -- The Chthonioi. General The earth-god: Trophonios The hero: Herakles God or hero?: Asklepios. -- Hopes and fears of the ordinary man. Introductory: literary sources Sepulchral inscriptions The social side Witchcraft and curses Ghosts Modifications of Homeric ideas: Eleusis Summary and recapitulation: Rohde's thesis and later modifications Appendix: Tabulation of ideas about the dead. -- The Orphics. Introductory note Method Why Orpheus? Outline of Orphic doctrine "Orphic influence": Was Orphism a religion of the lower classes? -- Plato and Aristotle. Plato Aristotle Appendix: Two notes on Aristotle.