A Companion to Greek Religion

by Daniel Ogden (Editor)

This major addition to Blackwell’s Companions to the Ancient World series covers all aspects of religion in the ancient Greek world from the archaic, through the classical and into the Hellenistic period.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Mythology, Spirituality, Paganism, Ancient History

522 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Professor of Ancient History; Honorary Research Fellow, UNISA



Principal research areas:

(1) traditional narratives in antiquity;

(2) Greek religion;

(3) Macedonian and Hellenistic Dynasties.

Reviews

[Glinsky]

This companion contains the following sentences:

“The ancient gods are not real – at least, that is the general supposition – and what our evidence leads us to is pictures that peoples created in their minds and shared in their imaginations. The gods are in fact the greatest work of art created by the Greeks.”

I might have thought the second sentence was merely garbage were it not for the fact that it is supposed to follow from the spectacularly idiotic first sentence. Every clause – almost every phrase – seems designed to express a darkness of such blithe incomprehension one can hardly conceive a schoolboy capable of thinking it. But then it wasn’t merely thought, but written – by a full professor who lists religion and mythology as among his main interests – and then published!

What aren’t real are not the ancient gods, but the figments of the author’s own imagination, and no-one is in any danger of mistaking those for anything but the impoverished transparencies they so manifestly are.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This superb work is even better when you are already familiar with many of the primary sources. I read Classical Greek; I know this period intimately, and I was delighted by the level of research, the freshness of the information, and the quality of the writing. The article by James Davidson was stellar (The scholar who wrote 'Courtesans and Fishcakes'). I would give this book six stars if they were available.