Divination and prophecy in the ancient Greek world / edited by Roger D. Woodard.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Woodard, Roger D., editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Divination--Greece--History--To 1500.

Divination.

Greece--Religious life and customs.

Greece.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 319 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

This volume examines the phenomena of ancient Greek prophecy and divination. With contributions from a distinguished, international cast of scholars, it offers fresh perspectives and interpretations of key aspects of these practices. Considering issues such as comparativism, ethnography, cognitive function, orality, and intertextuality, the volume demonstrates their relevance to the elucidation of Greek prophetic practices. The volume also shows how multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches can be applied to a range of topics, from an examination of the very inception of Greek divination, explored within the frame of more archaic cult ideas, through emic elaboration of divinatory practice in Archaic and Classical periods, to consideration of intentional manipulation of prophecy, as depicted in Hellenistic and Imperial Roman sources. Collectively, the essays deepen our understanding of ancient Greek prophecy by offering insights into divinition astéhknē, the centrality or marginality of Delphi and the Pythic priestess, prophetic ambiguity, and cognition, including cognitive dissonance.

Contents:

Greek Divination as the Transformation of an Indo-European European Process / ROGER D. WOODARD (BUFFALO)

Disappointment, Dissonance, and Reconfiguration: Oracular Failure in Ancient Greek Culture / ESTHER EIDINOW (BRISTOL)

False Prophets and Fake Prophecies in Lucian / DANA FIELDS (INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR)

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 03 Jan 2023).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 282-312) and index.

ISBN:

1-009-22158-2

1-009-22157-4

1-009-22159-0