Honor Thy Gods : Popular religion in Greek Tragedy

by: Mikalson, J.D.

Price: 65,00 EURO

1 copy in stock

In Honor Thy Gods Jon Mikalson uses the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides to explore popular religious beliefs and practices of Athenians in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. and examines how these playwrights portrayed, manipulated, and otherwise represented popular religion in their plays. He discusses the central role of honor in ancient Athenian piety and shows that the values of popular piety are not only reflected but also reaffirmed in tragedies.
Mikalson begins by examining what tragic characters and choruses have to say about the nature of the gods and their intervention in human affairs. Then, by tracing the fortunes of diverse characters -- among them Creon and Antigone, Ajax and Odysseus, Hippolytus, Pentheus, and even Athens and Troy -- he shows that in tragedy those who violate or challenge contemporary popular religious beliefs suffer, while those who support these beliefs are rewarded.

The beliefs considered in Mikalson's analysis include Athenians' views on matters regarding asylum, the roles of guests and hosts, oaths, the various forms of divination, health and healing, sacrifice, pollution, the religious responsibilities of parents, children, and citizens, homicide, the dead, and the afterlife. After summarizing the vairous forms of piety and impiety related to these beliefs found in the tragedies, Mikalson isolates "honoring the gods" as the fundamental concept of Greek piety. He concludes by describing the different relationships of the three tragedians to the religion of their time and their audience, arguing that the tragedies of Euripides most consistently support the values of popular religion.

Contents:
1. Introduction
Mythology and popular religion
The fragments of Greek tragedy
Irony and interpretation
The need to particularize
Tragedy and cult prehistory
2. The Deities
The presence of a God
Gods and Daimones
Gods and heroes
Divine intervention
3. Challenges to popular religious beliefs
Asylum
Xenia
Oaths and perjury
Divination
Death, burial, and afterlife
Conclusion
4. The pious and the impious
Creon and Antigone
Ajax and Odysseus
Hippolytus
Pentheus, Teiresias, and Cadmus
Troy and Athens
Polyphemus
Conclusion
5. Piety and honor
Pieties and impieties
Piety and justice
Piety, folly, Sophrosyne, and Hybris
Piety and Tiuń
6. The tragedians and popular religion
Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripides
Exodos

Honor Thy Gods : Popular religion in Greek Tragedy

by: Mikalson, J.D.

• ISBN-13: 9780807843482 / 978-0-8078-4348-2
• ISBN-03: 0807843482 / 0-8078-4348-2
• The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London, 1991

Price: 65,00 EURO

1 copy in stock