Rich with implications for the history of sexuality, gender issues, and patterns of Hellenic literary imagining, Marcel Detienne's landmark book recasts long-standing ideas about the fertility myth of Adonis. The author challenges Sir James Frazer's thesis that the vegetation god Adonis-- whose premature death was mourned by women and whose resurrection marked a joyous occasion--represented the annual cycle of growth and decay in agriculture. Using the analytic tools of structuralism, Detienne shows instead that the festivals of Adonis depict a seductive but impotent and fruitless deity--whose physical ineptitude led to his death in a boar hunt, after which his body was found in a lettuce patch. Contrasting the festivals of Adonis with the solemn ones dedicated to Demeter, the goddess of grain, he reveals the former as a parody and negation of the institution of marriage. Detienne considers the short-lived gardens that Athenian women planted in mockery for Adonis's festival, and explores the function of such vegetal matter as spices, mint, myrrh, cereal, and wet plants in religious practice and in a wide selection of myths. His inquiry exposes, among many things, attitudes toward sexual activities ranging from "perverse" acts to marital relations.

A fresh examination of a marginalized women's festival that influenced Athenian art, drama, philosophy, and public institutions.

"Frontispiece: Poem and calligraphy by Adonis, XXXX. Translated by Bassam Frangieh" --T.p. verso.

One of the most influential books in the history of literature, recognized as one of the greatest literary master pieces of its time, The Book of Adonitology: The Sacred Pentadon are the five sacred books of the Adonitology religion. It is the holy revelation of the true existence of Adonis the Heavenly Father and Issa Elohim The Holy Spirit, the curvaceous Mother-God. These holy revelations were given to our Lord and Savior King Adonis on the day of his enlightenment by the Angel Elishamel on Jan. 3rd 1996. The Book of Adonitology is the supreme authority and living source of all Adonitology teaching, the sacred text that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of Adonitology. Yet despite the growing interest in Adonitology teachings and culture, there has never been a form of sacred literature written for the modern day woman until now. The Book of Adonitology: The Sacred Pentadon of the Adonitology religion is written in contemporary language that makes the text easy to understand to the reader. The revelations are accurate and completely free of error. Furthermore, The Book of Adonitology: The Sacred Pentadon of the Adonitology Religion includes beautiful b&w paintings of some of the book's most voluptuous female characters as well as our Heavenly Father's first visitation by the Angel Elishamel. The dictionary is arranged as definitions for easy reference. The introduction recalls the visitation the King Adonis received by the Angel Elishamel on that fateful day as well as the Adonitology mantra. Of The Book of Adonitology: The Sacred Pentadon of the Adonitology Religion itself, examines and considers issues relating to human evolution, creationism, the relationship between the Triad and man, health and well being, science and technology, prosperity and the spiritual and sexual liberation of women with curves all in compassionate and brilliant fashion.

One of the greatest poets of Arabic literature, Adonis's work often centres on the process of petic creation, but his work has somehow remained highly appealing to Arab readers, and he has had, perhaps, more influence in terms of innovation and modernity than any other contemporary Arab poet. Twice he has been a finalist for the Nobel Prize. For Adonis, poetry is a vision, a leap outside of established concepts, a change in the order of things and the way we look at them.''

Adonis' influence on Arabic literature has been likened to that of T. S. Eliot in the English-speaking world. Yet alongside this spearheading of a modernist literary revolution, the secular Syrian-born poet is also renowned for his persistent and staunch attacks on despotism across the Arab world. In these conversations with the psychoanalyst Houria Abdelouahed, Adonis brings into sharp relief the latest wave of violence and war to engulf Arabic countries, tracing the cause of ongoing tensions back to the beginnings of Islam itself. Since the death of the prophet Muhammad, Islam has been used as a political and economic weapon, exploiting and reinforcing tribal divisions to aid the pursuit of power. Adonis argues that recent events in the Middle East – from the failures of the Arab Spring to the rise of ISIS and the bloody war in his native Syria – attest to the destructive effects of an Islamic worldview that prohibits any notion of plurality and breeds violence. If there is to be any hope of peace or progress in the Arab world, it is therefore imperative that these mentalities are overcome. In their place, Adonis urges a new spirit of enquiry, embodied in the freedoms to interrogate the past and to question cultural norms. Adonis' penetrating analysis comes at a critical time, offering an alternative path to the cycle of violence that plagues the Arab world today.