Greek religion and culture, the Bible, and the ancient Near East / by Jan N. Bremmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bremmer, Jan N.

Series:

Jerusalem studies in religion and culture ; v. 8.

Jerusalem studies in religion and culture, 1570-078X ; v. 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mythology, Greek.

Mythology, Greek--Influence.

Mythology, Middle Eastern.

Mythology, Middle Eastern--Influence.

Bible stories.

Greece--Civilization.

Greece.

Middle East--Civilization.

Middle East.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (444 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the last decades there has been an increasing interest in the relationship between Greek religion andamp; culture and the Ancient Near East. This challenging book contributes greatly to this interest by studying the Near Eastern background of important Greek myths, such as those of the creation of the world and the first woman, the Flood, the Golden Fleece, the Titans and travelling seers, but also of the births of Attis and Asclepius as well as the origins of the terms ‘paradise’ and ‘magic’. It also shows that, in turn, Greek literature influenced Jewish stories of divine epiphanies and that the Greek scapegoat myths and rituals contributed to the central Christian notion of atonement.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter One. Canonical and alternative creation myths / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Two. Pandora or the creation of a greek Eve / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Three. The birth of Paradise / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Four. The first crime: Brothers and fratricide in the ancient Mediterranean / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Five. Greek Fallen angels: Kronos and the Titans / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Six. Near eastern and native traditions in Apollodorus’ account of the flood / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Seven. Don’t look back: From the wife of Lot to Orpheus and Eurydice / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Eight. Balaam, Mopsus and Melampous: Tales of travelling seers / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Nine. Hebrew Lishkah and greek Leschê / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Ten. The scapegoat between northern Syria, hittites, israelites, greeks and early Christians / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Eleven. Close encounters of the third kind: Heliodorus in the temple and Paul on the road to Damascus / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Twelve. Persian Magoi and the birth of the term ‘magic’ / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Thirteen. Anaphe, Apollo Aiglêtês and the origin of Asclepius / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Fourteen. Attis: A greek god in Anatolian Pessinous and Catullan Rome / J.N. Bremmer

Chapter Fifteen. The myth of the Golden Fleece / J.N. Bremmer

Appendix I. Genesis 1.1: A jewish response to a persian challenge? / J.N. Bremmer

Appendix II. Magic and religion? / J.N. Bremmer

Appendix Iiithe. Spelling and meaning of the name Megabyxos / J.N. Bremmer

Bibliography / J.N. Bremmer

Index of names, subjects and passages / J.N. Bremmer

Jerusalem studies in religion and culture / J.N. Bremmer.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [357]-400) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-39797-4

9786612397974

90-474-3271-1

OCLC:

606162667

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004164734.i-426 DOI