Belief in Greek and Roman religion / edited by Ralph Anderson and Pramit Chaudhuri

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Anderson, Ralph (Ralph Thomas), editor.

Chaudhuri, Pramit (Classicist), editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Greece--Religion.

Greece.

Greece--Antiquities.

Rome--Religion.

Rome.

Rome--Antiquities.

Religion.

Antiquities.

Rome (Empire).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"For the Greeks and Romans, the world was full of gods, but this fundamental aspect of their experience poses major challenges to modern understanding. The concept of belief has been central to meeting those challenges but has itself been hotly debated, and has at times even been rejected as a supposedly Christianising anachronism. Others, meanwhile, have argued that a culture-neutral model of belief is both possible and essential, while the advent of the cognitive science of religion has offered new possibilities for understanding ancient religious worlds. The essays in this volume trace the historical development of the modern concept of belief, examine ancient debates about the nature of human knowledge of the divine, and draw on perspectives from anthropology, cognitive science and early modern history as well as classical studies to explore the nature and role of belief in Greek and Roman religion in ancient literature, society, experience and practice"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Introduction : questioning belief / Ralph Anderson

Belief and praxis in ancient and modern religion / John Cottingham

Religion, the religions, and propositional beliefs / Peter Harrison

Towards a psychology of Greek religious belief / Thomas Harrison

Belief and practice in Xenophanes’ criticism of traditional religion / Shaul Tor

The alliance between faith, the mysteries, and philosophy in Plutarch’s Moralia / George van Kooten

A fragile synthesis : philosophy and traditional religion in the post-Hellenistic period / Peter Van Nuffelen

Perception as an alternative to belief in Greek religious experience / Ralph Anderson

‘Omen-mindedness’ in the so-called confession inscriptions of Asia Minor / Kim Beerden

Is there an alternative to belief in Roman religion? The case of Mark Antony’s flaminate / Jacob L. Mackey

Testing the gods : religious belief in Roman imperial epic / Pramit Chaudhuri

Roman theologies in crisis : fluctuation and diversity in beliefs about impiety / Lindsay G. Driediger-Murphy

The background of ‘belief’ and the foreground of ‘religion’ / Jason P. Davies

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed May 18, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Belief in Greek and Roman religion

ISBN:

9781009240970

1009240978

OCLC:

1582439622

Publisher Number:

CIPO000359489

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license