In this wide-ranging work on Greek religion and mythology, Jan N. Bremmer brings together his stimulating and innovative articles, which have all been updated and revised where necessary. In three thematic sections, he analyses central aspects of Greek religion, beginning with the gods and heroes and paying special attention to the unity of the divine nature and the emergence of the category 'hero'. The second section begins with a discussion of the nature of polis religion, continues with various facets, such as seers, secrecy and the soul, and concludes with the influence of the Ancient Near East. The third section studies human sacrifice and offers the most recent analysis of the ideal animal sacrifice, combining literature, epigraphy, iconography, and zooarchaeology. Regarding human sacrifice, it concentrates on the famous cases of Iphigeneia and the werewolves of Mount Lykaion. The fourth and final section investigates key elements of Greek mythology, such as the definition of myth and its relationship to ritual, and ends with a brief history of the study of Greek mythology. The multi-disciplinary approach and rich footnotes make this work a must for anybody interested in Greek religion and mythology.

Provides undergraduate students with a vibrant account of the religious world of ancient Greece, now in its third edition Ancient Greek Religion offers a detailed yet accessible introduction to the beliefs, myths, rituals, and deities of Greek religion. Author Jon D. Mikalson provides a vivid depiction of Greek religious practice in Athens, Delphi, and Olympia during the Classical period and in select other cities during the Hellenistic period. This reader-friendly textbook explains basic concepts of Greek polytheism, describes major deities and cults, and discusses various aspects of Greek religious life in the context of the city-state, the village, the family, and the individual. The revised third edition features new contributions by Andrej and Ivana Petrovic. It has two new chapters: one highlighting Roman, Christian, and modern scholars’ approaches to Greek religion and one identifying the types of sources used to understand and reconstruct ancient Greek religion. This edition also expands discussion of magic and personal practices and includes an updated and expanded bibliography for each chapter. This popular textbook: Offers thorough coverage of major Greek gods, heroes, myths, and cults Presents translations of ancient texts to promote reflection and discussion Features a glossary of recurring Greek terms and a wealth of high-quality color maps, images, figures, and illustrations Describes Greek religious practice from the perspectives of different worshippers, such as priests, slaves, family members, and public officials Discusses various interpretations of the gods and the afterlife, the nature of piety and impiety, and the larger social and political context of ancient Greece Ancient Greek Religion, Third Edition, remains the ideal introductory textbook for undergraduate courses including Greek Civilization, Greek Religion, Greek and Roman Religion, Ancient Religions, and Greek History. It is also an excellent source of reference for graduate students, instructors, and scholars studying religious life in Classical Greece.

Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek Myth and Religion is a ground-breaking volume dedicated to a thorough examination of the well known empirical categories of light and darkness as it relates to modes of thought, beliefs and social behavior in Greek culture. With a systematic and multi-disciplinary approach, the book elucidates the light/darkness dichotomy in color semantics, appearance and concealment of divinities and creatures of darkness, the eye sight and the insight vision, and the role of the mystic or cultic.

"There is something of a paradox about our access to ancient Greek religion. We know too much, and too little. The materials that bear on it far outreach an individual's capacity to assimilate: so many casual allusions in so many literary texts over more than a millennium, so many direct or indirect references in so many inscriptions from so many places in the Greek world, such an overwhelming abundance of physical remains. But genuinely revealing evidence does not often cluster coherently enough to create a vivid sense of the religious realities of a particular time and place. Amid a vast archipelago of scattered islets of information, only a few are of a size to be habitable."—from the Preface In On Greek Religion, Robert Parker offers a provocative and wide-ranging entrée into the world of ancient Greek religion, focusing especially on the interpretive challenge of studying a religious system that in many ways remains desperately alien from the vantage point of the twenty-first century. One of the world's leading authorities on ancient Greek religion, Parker raises fundamental methodological questions about the study of this vast subject. Given the abundance of evidence we now have about the nature and practice of religion among the ancient Greeks—including literary, historical, and archaeological sources—how can we best exploit that evidence and agree on the central underlying issues? Is it possible to develop a larger, "unified" theoretical framework that allows for coherent discussions among archaeologists, anthropologists, literary scholars, and historians? In seven thematic chapters, Parker focuses on key themes in Greek religion: the epistemological basis of Greek religion; the relation of ritual to belief; theories of sacrifice; the nature of gods and heroes; the meaning of rituals, festivals, and feasts; and the absence of religious authority. Ranging across the archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods, he draws on multiple disciplines both within and outside classical studies. He also remains sensitive to varieties of Greek religious experience. Also included are five appendixes in which Parker applies his innovative methodological approach to particular cases, such as the acceptance of new gods and the consultation of oracles. On Greek Religion will stir debate for its bold questioning of disciplinary norms and for offering scholars and students new points of departure for future research.

The Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion offers a fully rounded and highly authoritative point of access to all aspects of ancient religious life and thought. Dr Simon Price and Dr Emily Kearns, area advisers for the third edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary, have come together to select, revise, edit, and in some cases wholly recast, a large number of key entries from OCD to create this handy, accessible reference work on mythology and religion in the Graeco-Roman world. Bringing to the attention of a wider audience the authority and scholarly rigour of OCD, the Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion provides students, teachers, and general readers with an affordable comprehensive, and wide-ranging A-Z reference source. The Dictionary is unique in that in addition to Greek myths and Roman festivals it covers Greek and Roman religious places, monuments, religious personnel, divination, astrology, and magic, and also contains many entries on Judaism and Christianity in Greek and Roman times.