Description |
1 online resource (xiii, 593 pages) : illustrations. |
Series |
Religions in the Graeco-Roman world, 0927-7633 ; v. 173 |
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Religions in the Graeco-Roman world ; v. 173.
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Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 561-576) and indexes. |
Summary |
Inspired by a critical reconsideration of current monolithic approaches to the study of Greek religion, this book argues that ancient Greeks displayed a disquieting capacity to validate two (or more) dissonant, if not contradictory, representations of the divine world in a complementary rather than mutually exclusive manner. From this perspective the six chapters explore problems inherent in: order vs. variety/chaos in polytheism, arbitrariness vs. justice in theodicy, the peaceful co-existence of mono- and polytheistic theologies, human traits in divine imagery, divine omnipotence vs. limitat. |
Note |
Print version record. |
Contents |
1. Many Gods: Complications of Polytheism -- Order versus Chaos -- The Greek pantheon: kosmos or chaos? -- Ingredients for Chaos -- In search of identities -- Names and surnames: one god or many? -- Creating Order: Taking Place -- The gods who dwell in our city -- Beyond the polis border (and back) -- Ducking out: gods in personal religiosity -- 2. The Gods: Divine Justice or Divine Arbitrariness? -- Controversial diction in archaic poetry -- Modern Voices -- Homer -- Herodotus -- Two tales, many perspectives -- Modern voices: fear of diversity -- Saving the Author -- Solon Again -- Once More: Chaos or Order? -- Paratactic multiplicity -- 'Gnomologisches Wissen' -- The rehabilitation of parataxis -- Thinking in gnomai--speaking in parataxis -- Putting to the Test: Hesiod -- Envoy -- 3. One God: Three Greek Experiments in Oneness -- One and Many: The God(s) of Xenophanes -- One or many? -- One and Many -- One is Many: The Gods, the God and the Divine -- On singular plurals -- One is the God -- Praising the god -- Aretalogy -- Nine characteristics of henotheistic religion -- The nature of oneness in henotheistic religion -- Questions of origin -- 4. A God: Why is Hermes Hungry? -- Hungry Hermes and Greedy Interpreters -- Hermes: The Human God in the Hymn -- Hermes: The Eternal Dupe in the Fable -- Burlesques -- Paying a social call -- Hermes: The Present God in Visual Art -- Socializing -- More burlesques -- Herms and sacrifice -- Hungry Hermes: The Sacrificial Meal -- The warm splanchna which I used to gobble up -- The titbits Hermes likes to eat -- Companion of the feast -- 5. God: the Question of Divine Omnipotence -- God: Self and Other -- Self -- Other -- Self and other -- Gods: Self and other -- Some inferences -- God: Powerful or All-Powerful? -- Miracles in Double Perspective: The Case of Asklepios -- God: Powerful and All-Powerful -- Omnipotence, ancient philosophers and modern theologians -- Inconsistency in religious expression -- 6. Playing (the) God: did (the) Greeks Believe in the Divinity of their Rulers? -- Men into Gods -- A swollen-headed doctor: the case of Menekrates -- A charismatic prince: the case of Demetrios Poliorketes -- Modern Perplexities -- The Construction of a God -- Language -- Performance -- Did (the) Greeks believe in the Divinity of their Rulers? -- Ritual Play: Sincere Hypocrisy -- Birds into Gods: Comic Theopoetics -- Making a God: A Multiple Perspective Approach -- Appendices -- Grouping the Gods -- Unity or Diversity--One God or Many? A Modern Debate -- Drive Towards Coherence in Two Herodotus-Studies -- Did the Greeks Believe in their Gods? |
Language |
English. |
Subject |
Greece -- Religion.
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Greek theology.
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Religion.
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RELIGION -- Antiquities & Archaeology.
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BODY, MIND & SPIRIT -- Spirituality -- Paganism & Neo-Paganism.
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Religion. (OCoLC)fst01093763
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Greece. (OCoLC)fst01208380
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RELIGION / History.
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Other Form: |
Print version: Versnel, H.S. Coping with the gods. Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2011 9789004204904 (DLC) 2011008358 (OCoLC)702615801 |
ISBN |
9789004210905 (electronic bk.) |
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9004210903 (electronic bk.) |
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1283161664 |
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9781283161664 |
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9789004204904 |
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9004204903 |
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