Oracles, curses, and risk among the ancient Greeks / Esther Eidinow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eidinow, Esther, 1970-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Oracles, Greek.

Blessing and cursing--Greece.

Blessing and cursing.

Greece--Religious life and customs.

Greece.

Physical Description:

xii, 516 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

How did ancient Greek men and women deal with the uncertainty and risk of everyday life? What did they fear most, and how did they manage their anxieties? Esther Eidinow sets side-by-side two collections of material usually studied in isolation: binding curse tablets from across the ancient world, and the collection of published private questions from the oracle at Dodona in north-west Greece. Eidinow uses these texts to explore perceptions of risk and uncertainty in ancient society, challenging previous explanations.

In these records we hear voices that are rarely, if ever, heard in literary texts and history books. The questions and curses in these tablets comprise fervent, sometimes ferocious appeals to the gods. The stories they tell offer tantalizing glimpses of everyday life, carrying the reader through the teeming ancient city-both its physical setting and its social dynamics. Among these tablets we find prostitutes and publicans, doctors and soldiers, netmakers and silver-workers, actors and seam-stresses. Anxious litigants ask the gods to silence their opponents. Men inquire about the paternity of their children. Women beg the gods to help them keep their men. Business rivals try to corner the market. Slaves plead to escape their masters.

This material takes us beyond the headlines of ancient history, offering new insights into institutions, activities, and relationships. Above all, individually and together, these texts help us to understand some of the ways in which ancient Greek men and women understood the world. In turn, the beliefs and activities of an ancient culture may shed light on modern attitudes to risk.

Contents:

Note on Spellings and Inscription Conventions xiii

1 Exploring Uncertainty 10

2 A Lapse into Unreason 26

3 Individuals and Oracles 42

4 The Dwelling of the Spirit 56

5 A Catalogue and Summary of Published Questions by Individuals and Responses from the Dodona Oracle 72

6 Oracles and Daily Life 125

7 Curses! 139

8 Urban Drama 156

9 The Best Defence 165

10 Business as Usual? 191

11 Love and Curses 206

12 Curses and Risk 225

1 Questions Presented by Communities at the Oracle of Dodona 345

2 Texts Excluded from the Relationship Category 349

Catalogue of Binding Curses 352.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [456]-480) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780199277780

0199277788

OCLC:

137244708