Why Oracles Are Silent
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Why Oracles Are Silent
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Author : Tom Gelinske
language : en
Publisher: iUniverse
Release Date : 1998-12
Why Oracles Are Silent written by Tom Gelinske and has been published by iUniverse this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1998-12 with Philosophy categories.
This book traces the belief in oracles back to Orpheus, the legendary poet-prince, who travelled with Jason, charmed the sirens, and descended into Hades trying to save his Eurydice. Orpheus is one of those figures like Theseus, somewhat historical, fascinating, the subject of 27 operas. Orpheus may be the first Kristos, 'anointed one,' said to be a pioneer, a preacher (of apparently very persuasive talents), who preached a belief in metempsychosis, forbade sacrifice, murder, or the eating of meat - went against the mainline of belief and was said to have been assassinated during a Dionysian ceremony. Orphic writings, while mentioned by Plato and others, are lost, but his ideas have come down to us through a succession of Christos -Zoroaster, Krishna, Gautama, Jesus, Mani, Muhammad - not all of whom found martyrdom to be sure: Zoroaster was said to have been consumed by a flash of lighting, and there is Muhammad, suspended between heaven and earth. The lost poems of Orpheus are said to be oracular in nature and Bakkids and Sybils roamed the byways reciting them. This was before temple building, and on of the earliest of these was the shrine at Delphi. Of course belief in oracles goes hand in hand with a belief in any immaterial and parallel world inhabited by spirits or 'souls' where the future is as clearly perceived as the past. The priest of the shrine - or the shrine itself - provided mortals some access to that other world and its foreknowledge - the ancient Greeks believed. The author wants to demonstrate, not the truth (necessarily) of oracles but the power of belief in them, and in the attempt to show the influence of Orpheus on oracular belief we must also acknowledge his influence on spiritual or "Orphic religions," and how we have traded an entire world of the spirit for something more efficient but far less 'soul-satisfying.' Nostradamus emerges somewhere out of the Middle Ages to show that belief in oracles had not yet died. After all, the spirit was still with us in almost universal belief. The author interprets one of Nostradamus' quatrains that seems to presage the Gulf War and Norman Schwartzkopf.
The Myth Of Paganism
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Author : Robert Shorrock
language : en
Publisher: A&C Black
Release Date : 2013-10-16
The Myth Of Paganism written by Robert Shorrock and has been published by A&C Black this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2013-10-16 with Religion categories.
Traditional and still prevalent accounts of late antique literature draw a clear distinction between 'pagan' and 'Christian' forms of poetry: whereas Christian poetry is taken seriously in terms its contribution to culture and society at large, so-called pagan or secular poetry is largely ignored, as though it has no meaningful part to play within the late antique world. The Myth of Paganism sets out to deconstruct this view of two contrasting poetic traditions and proposes in its place a new integrated model for the understanding of late antique poetry. As the book argues, the poet of Christ and the poet of the Muses were drawn together into an active, often provocative, dialogue about the relationship between Christianity and the Classical tradition and, ultimately, about the meaning of late antiquity itself. An analysis of the poetry of Nonnus of Panopolis, author of both a 'pagan' epic about Dionysus and a Christian translation of St John's Gospel, helps to illustrate this complex dialectic between pagan and Christian voices.
Making Silence Speak
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Author : André Lardinois
language : en
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Release Date : 2018-06-05
Making Silence Speak written by André Lardinois and has been published by Princeton University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018-06-05 with Literary Criticism categories.
This collection attempts to recover the voices of women in antiquity from a variety of perspectives: how they spoke, where they could be heard, and how their speech was adopted in literature and public discourse. Rather than confirming the old model of binary oppositions in which women's speech was viewed as insignificant and subordinate to male discourse, these essays reveal a dynamic and potentially explosive interrelation between women's speech and the realm of literary production, religion, and oratory. The contributors use a variety of methodologies to mine a diverse array of sources, from Homeric epic to fictional letters of the second sophistic period and from actual letters written by women in Hellenistic Egypt to the poetry of Sappho. Throughout, the term "voice" is used in its broadest definition. It includes not only the few remaining genuine women's voices but also the ways in which male authors render women's speech and the social assumptions such representations reflect and reinforce. These essays therefore explore how fictional female voices can serve to negotiate complex social, epistemological, and aesthetic issues. The contributors include Josine Blok, Raffaella Cribiore, Michael Gagarin, Mark Griffith, André Lardinois, Richard Martin, Lisa Maurizio, Laura McClure, D. M. O'Higgins, Patricia Rosenmeyer, Marilyn Skinner, Eva Stehle, and Nancy Worman.
Omens And Oracles
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Author : Matthew Dillon
language : en
Publisher: Routledge
Release Date : 2017-07-14
Omens And Oracles written by Matthew Dillon and has been published by Routledge this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-07-14 with History categories.
Addressing the role which divination played in ancient Greek society, this volume deals with various forms of prophecy and how each was utilised and for what purpose. Chapters bring together key types of divining, such as from birds, celestial phenomena, the entrails of sacrificed animals and dreams. Oracular centres delivered prophetic pronouncements to enquirers, but in addition, there were written collections of oracles in circulation. Many books were available on how to interpret dreams, the birds and entrails, and divination as a religious phenomenon attracted the attention of many writers. Expert diviners were at the heart of Greek prophecy, whether these were Apollo’s priestesses delivering prose or verse answers to questions put to them by consultants, diviners known as manteis, who interpreted entrails and omens, the chresmologoi, who sang the many oracles circulating orally or in writing, or dream interpreters. Divination was utilised not only to foretell the future but also to ensure that the individual or state employing divination acted in accordance with that divinely prescribed future; it was employed by all and had a crucial role to play in what courses of action both states and individuals undertook. Specific attention is paid in this volume not only to the ancient written evidence, but to that of inscriptions and papyri, with emphasis placed on the iconography of Greek divination.
Pagans And Christians In Late Antique Rome
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Author : Michele Renee Salzman
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date : 2016
Pagans And Christians In Late Antique Rome written by Michele Renee Salzman and has been published by Cambridge University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016 with History categories.
This book sheds new light on the religious and consequently social changes taking place in late antique Rome. The essays in this volume argue that the once-dominant notion of pagan-Christian religious conflict cannot fully explain the texts and artifacts, as well as the social, religious, and political realities of late antique Rome. Together, the essays demonstrate that the fourth-century city was a more fluid, vibrant, and complex place than was previously thought. Competition between diverse groups in Roman society - be it pagans with Christians, Christians with Christians, or pagans with pagans - did create tensions and hostility, but it also allowed for coexistence and reduced the likelihood of overt violent, physical conflict. Competition and coexistence, along with conflict, emerge as still central paradigms for those who seek to understand the transformations of Rome from the age of Constantine through the early fifth century.
The Delphic Oracle
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Author : Joseph Fontenrose
language : en
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Release Date : 2023-07-28
The Delphic Oracle written by Joseph Fontenrose and has been published by Univ of California Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2023-07-28 with Social Science categories.
The Delphic Oracle: Its Responses and Operations with a Catalogue of Responses explores the enigmatic and storied institution of the Delphic Oracle, separating historical reality from myth and modern misconceptions. The book offers a comprehensive examination of all recorded responses attributed to the Oracle, whether historical, legendary, or fictional, presenting a nuanced understanding of its operations. Over a thousand years, the Oracle served as a center of spiritual and political guidance in ancient Greece. Contrary to popular myths about intoxicating vapors and frenzied prophecies, the author argues that the Pythia delivered clear, coherent responses directly to the consultants, grounded in tradition rather than supernatural phenomena. This volume challenges enduring beliefs and misconceptions, including the portrayal of ambiguous riddles and mystical rituals that have dominated modern interpretations. It meticulously categorizes responses into historical, quasi-historical, legendary, and fictional, drawing on both ancient texts and modern archaeological findings. The analysis sheds light on how oracles functioned within their cultural context and how their narratives evolved over time. With a rich catalogue of responses and a critical approach, the book provides an invaluable resource for understanding one of the ancient world’s most iconic institutions. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1978.
Conversing With Chaos In Graeco Roman Antiquity
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Author : Esther Eidinow
language : en
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Release Date : 2024-11-14
Conversing With Chaos In Graeco Roman Antiquity written by Esther Eidinow and has been published by Bloomsbury Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2024-11-14 with History categories.
How did ancient Greeks and Romans perceive their environments: did they see order or chaos, chance or control? And how do their views compare to modern perceptions? Conversing with Chaos in Graeco-Roman Antiquity challenges prevailing ideas that ancient perceptions of the non-human world rested on a profound belief in universal order, and that the cosmos was harmonious and under human control. Engaging with the concept of chaos in both its ancient and modern meanings, and focusing on the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, this book reveals another sense of environmental awareness, one that paid equal attention to chance and chaos, and the sometimes-fatal consequences of human interventions in nature. Bringing together a team of international scholars, the volume investigates the experience of the interaction of humans with the environment, as reflected in ancient evidence from myths and philosophical treatises, to epigraphic evidence and archaeological remains. The contributors consider the role of the human in the formation of perspectives about the natural world and explore themes of agency, affordances, ecophobia, gender and temporality. Overall, the volume reveals how, in ancient imaginations, environments were perceived as living entities with their own agency, and respondent (or even vulnerable) to human actions and decision-making. It highlights how modern insights can enrich our understanding of the past, and demonstrates the increasing relevance of ancient historical research for reflecting on current relations to the natural world.
The Cross That Spoke
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Author : John Dominic Crossan
language : en
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Release Date : 2008-03-01
The Cross That Spoke written by John Dominic Crossan and has been published by Wipf and Stock Publishers this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2008-03-01 with Religion categories.
In this revolutionary work, John Dominic Crossan reveals that the Passion and Resurrection Narratives in the four canonical Gospels are radical revisions of an earlier Gospel account. He argues boldly that the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, discovered in the grave of a Christian monk in Egypt circa 1886, contains the earliest version of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He describes how the authors of the four Gospels revised the early account of how their revision predominated as Roman authority grew. Lacking in the revision, he suggests, is the very heart of the earlier Passion: its depiction of Jesus' death as the consummation of Israel's pain and the resurrection as the vindication of Israel's faith.
Nessus The Centaur
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Author : Henry Hollenbaugh
language : en
Publisher: Alondra Press
Release Date : 2009
Nessus The Centaur written by Henry Hollenbaugh and has been published by Alondra Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009 with categories.
The Divination Of Demons
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Author : St. Augustine of Hippo
language : en
Publisher: Dalcassian Press
Release Date : 2016-11-15
The Divination Of Demons written by St. Augustine of Hippo and has been published by Dalcassian Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016-11-15 with Religion categories.
In this discourse, the St. Augustine engages in a theological debate regarding the nature of demonic divination and its implications for Christianity. The conversation highlights the limitations of pagan practices, asserting that while demons may predict certain events, their predictions stem from a corrupted nature and are ultimately subordinate to God's will. The author argues that the mere allowance of such practices by God does not equate to divine approval, and he emphasizes the eventual triumph of the true God over false deities, citing prophetic scriptures to support his claims. The text culminates in a reaffirmation of the Christian faith as the true path to divine truth.