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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010067586 | BL687 B47 2001 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Between Magic and Religion represents a radical rethinking of traditional distinctions involving the term 'religion' in the ancient Greek world and beyond, through late antiquity to the seventeenth century. The title indicates the fluidity of such concepts as religion and magic, highlighting the wide variety of meanings evoked by these shifting terms from ancient to modern times. The contributors put these meanings to the test, applying a wide range of methods in exploring the many varieties of available historical, archaeological, iconographical, and literary evidence. No reader will ever think of magic and religion the same way after reading through the findings presented in this book. Both terms emerge in a new light, with broader applications and deeper meanings.
Author Notes
Sulochana R. Asirvatham received her Ph.D. in Classics from Columbia University. She is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics and General Humanities at Montclair State Univeristy. Corinne Odine Pache received her Ph.D. from Harvard University. She is Assistant Professor of Classics at Yale University. John Watrous is a graduate student in the Classics department at Harvard University.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
This book consists of ten essays involving various aspects of Greek and Roman religious practices and their interpretation in cultural contexts ranging from classical Athens through 17th-century America. The essays deal with such issues as the use of religious categories to inscribe ethical, cultural, and political differences among ancient and early modern communities; the complex relations of ancient worshipers to heroes and deified rulers; and the ways in which various Christian cultures confronted and adapted pre-Christian cultural and religious practices and images. The authors call into question a range of common scholarly distinctions, including those between Greece and Rome, Greco-Romans and barbarians, pagans and Christians, religion and politics, and religion and magic. The focus throughout these essays is on the ways in which practices that modern scholarship designates as "religion" are always inextricably embedded within broader networks of cultural practices and on the ways in which religious categories can be used to define and police central notions of identity. While these essays move across wide-ranging contexts, they offer valuable windows into the intimate connection between religion and cultural identity. For upper-division undergraduates through faculty. R. Styers University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
