Orphic Tradition And The Birth Of The Gods

Author : Dwayne A. Meisner
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190663529
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods written by Dwayne A. Meisner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods is a literary history that attempts to reconstruct the fragments of four theogonies that were attributed to the legendary singer Orpheus: the Derveni, Eudemian, Hieronyman, and Rhapsodic Theogonies. Most modern scholars have described these poems as if they were similar to Hesiod's Theogony—lengthy chronological accounts of the births of the gods from the beginning of time to the present—but this book suggests that a better model for understanding how these poems were composed is to see each of them as an individual product of bricolage (as explained by Claude Lévi-Strauss), rather than as items in the stemma of a static manuscript tradition (as reconstructed by Martin West). The Orphic tradition was more fluid and fragmented than modern reconstructions would lead one to believe, but in these four Orphic theogonies certain features stand out, such as points of comparison with Near Eastern myths, the continuous discourse between Orphic poetry and philosophy, and speculations on the nature of the gods in ways that generated unique deities and new narratives. A study of Orphic theogonies reveals that the Orphic myths of Phanes and Zeus were no less important than the Orphic myth of Dionysus"--

Author : Dwayne A. Meisner
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190663537
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods written by Dwayne A. Meisner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-17 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hatching of the Cosmic Egg, the swallowing of Phanes by Zeus, and the murder of Dionysus by the Titans were just a few of the many stories that appeared in ancient Greek epic poems that were thought to have been written by the legendary singer Orpheus. Most of this poetry is now lost, surviving only in the form of brief quotations by Greek philosophers. Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods brings together the scattered fragments of four Orphic theogonies: the Derveni, Eudemian, Hieronyman, and Rhapsodic theogonies. Typically, theogonies are thought to be poetic accounts of the creation of the universe and the births of the gods, leading to the creation of humans and the establishment of the present state of the cosmos. The most famous example is Hesiod's Theogony, which unlike the Orphic theogonies has survived. But did Orphic theogonies look anything like Hesiod's Theogony? Meisner applies a new theoretical model for studying Orphic theogonies and suggests certain features that characterize them as different from Hesiod: the blending of Near Eastern narrative elements that are missing in Hesiod; the probability that these were short hymns, more like the Homeric Hymnsr than Hesiod; and the continuous discourse between myth and philosophy that can be seen in Orphic poems and the philosophers who quote them. Most importantly, this book argues that the Orphic myths of Phanes emerging from the Cosmic Egg and Zeus swallowing Phanes are at least as important as the well-known myth of Dionysus being dismembered by the Titans, long thought to have been the central myth of Orphism. As this book amply demonstrates, Orphic literature was a diverse and ever-changing tradition by which authors were able to think about the most current philosophical ideas through the medium of the most traditional poetic forms.

Author : Radcliffe G. Edmonds III
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107038219
Total Pages : 465 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Redefining Ancient Orphism written by Radcliffe G. Edmonds III and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-07 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a paradigm shift, this book redefines Orphism as a polemical label for extra-ordinary religion, good or bad.

Author : Carolina López-Ruiz
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674049468
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

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Download or read book When the Gods Were Born written by Carolina López-Ruiz and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010-06-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "With admirable erudition, Lopez-Ruiz brings to life intimacies and exchanges between the ancient Greeks and their Northwest Semitic neighbors, portraying the ancient Mediterranean as a fluid, dynamic contact zone. She explains networks of circulation, shows creative uses of traditional material by peoples in motion, and radically transforms our understanding of ancient cosmogonies."---Page duBois, author of Out of Athens: The New Ancient Greeks --

Author : G. R. S. Mead
Publisher : Kessinger Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781425314637
Total Pages : 60 pages
Book Rating : 4.35/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Orphic Pantheon written by G. R. S. Mead and published by Kessinger Publishing. This book was released on 2005-12 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Author :
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421408864
Total Pages : 279 pages
Book Rating : 4.66/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Orphic Hymns written by and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2013-07-31 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best-selling English translation of the mysterious and cosmic Greek poetry known as the Orphic Hymns. At the very beginnings of the Archaic Age, the great singer Orpheus taught a new religion that centered around the immortality of the human soul and its journey after death. He felt that achieving purity by avoiding meat and refraining from committing harm further promoted the pursuit of a peaceful life. Elements of the worship of Dionysus, such as shape-shifting and ritualistic ecstasy, were fused with Orphic beliefs to produce a powerful and illuminating new religion that found expression in the mystery cults. Practitioners of this new religion composed a great body of poetry, much of which is translated in The Orphic Hymns. The hymns presented in this book were anonymously composed somewhere in Asia Minor, most likely in the middle of the third century AD. At this turbulent time, the Hellenic past was fighting for its survival, while the new Christian faith was spreading everywhere. The Orphic Hymns thus reflect a pious spirituality in the form of traditional literary conventions. The hymns themselves are devoted to specific divinities as well as to cosmic elements. Prefaced with offerings, strings of epithets invoke the various attributes of the divinity and prayers ask for peace and health to the initiate. Apostolos N. Athanassakis and Benjamin M. Wolkow have produced an accurate and elegant translation accompanied by rich commentary.

Author : David D. Leitao
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107379342
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.43/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Pregnant Male as Myth and Metaphor in Classical Greek Literature written by David D. Leitao and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the image of the pregnant male in Greek literature as it evolved over the course of the classical period. The image - as deployed in myth and in metaphor - originated as a representation of paternity and, by extension, 'authorship' of ideas, works of art, legislation, and the like. Only later, with its reception in philosophy in the early fourth century, did it also become a way to figure and negotiate the boundary between the sexes. The book considers a number of important moments in the evolution of the image: the masculinist embryological theory of Anaxagoras of Clazomenae and other fifth century pre-Socratics; literary representations of the birth of Dionysus; the origin and functions of pregnancy as a metaphor in tragedy, comedy and works of some Sophists; and finally the redeployment of some of these myths and metaphors in Aristophanes' Assemblywomen and in Plato's Symposium and Theaetetus.

Author : William Keith Guthrie
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780691024998
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.95/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Orpheus and Greek Religion written by William Keith Guthrie and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1993-10-10 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tales told of Orpheus are legion. He is said to have been an Argonaut--and to have saved Jason's life. Rivers are reported to have stopped their flow to listen to the sounds of his lyre and his voice. Plato cites his poetry and Herodotus refers to "practices that are called Orphic." Did Orpheus, in fact, exist? His influence on Greek thought is undeniable, but his disciples left little of substance behind them. Indeed, their Orphic precepts have been lost to time. W.K.C. Guthrie attempts to uncover and define Orphism by following its circuitous path through ancient history. He tackles this daunting task with the determination of a detective and the analytical rigor of a classical scholar. He ferries his readers with him on a singular voyage of discovery.

Author : Barry B. Powell
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520391691
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Greek Poems to the Gods written by Barry B. Powell and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-08-09 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient Greek hymnic tradition translated beautifully and accessibly. The hymn—as poetry, as craft, as a tool for worship and philosophy—was a vital art form throughout antiquity. Although the Homeric Hymns have long been popular, other equally important collections have not been readily accessible to students eager to learn about ancient poetry. In reading hymns, we also gain valuable insight into life in the classical world. In this collection, early Homeric Hymns of uncertain authorship appear along with the carefully wrought hymns of the great Hellenistic poet and courtier Callimachus; the mystical writings attributed to the legendary poet Orpheus, written as Christianity was taking over the ancient world; and finally, the hymns of Proclus, the last great pagan philosopher of antiquity, from the fifth century AD, whose intellectual influence throughout western culture has been profound. Greek Poems to the Gods distills over a thousand years of the ancient Greek hymnic tradition into a single volume. Acclaimed translator Barry B. Powell brings these fabulous texts to life in English, hewing closely to the poetic beauty of the original Greek. His superb introductions and notes give readers essential context, making the hymns as accessible to a beginner approaching them for the first time as to an advanced student continuing to explore their secrets. Brilliant illustrations from ancient art enliven and enrichen the experience of reading these poems.

Author : Anthi Chrysanthou
Publisher : ISSN
ISBN 13 : 9783110778090
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Defining Orphism written by Anthi Chrysanthou and published by ISSN. This book was released on 2022-01-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a concise whole-encompassing definition of Orphism through bringing together all of its main components in a single study, highlighting both parallels and divergences between the Gold Tablets, the Derveni Papyrus and the Orphic Rhap