Did the Ancient Greeks Develop a “Happy Mythology” for Pastoral Gods? Exercises in Comparative Approaches to Divine Genealogies

Philology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2018) ◽  
pp. 9-34
Author(s):  
GABRIELE ROCCELLA
Keyword(s):  
Special Focus ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Thought Patterns ◽  
European Thought

Abstract This essay aims at integrating the study of Greek mythology – with a special focus on Pan, Hermes and Apollo as pastoral gods – through the hermeneutical resources offered by Indo-European (IE) linguistics and comparative approaches. The goal is to ascertain the existence of a special discourse underlying specific Ancient Greek narratives concerning these pastoral gods and the processes through which they came to be associated with the pastoral sphere - when that was not their originary domain. Going from the specifics of the Greek mythological universe to the broader themes which constitute Indo-European thought patterns and back to the Greek context again, this essay suggests that the Ancient Greeks assumed a special, humorous tone when dealing with mythical matter concerning the pastoral sphere, reflecting many aspects of the reality of their daily lives.

The Devil's Tabernacle

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Ossa-Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Early Modernity ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Ancient Religion ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Historical Identity ◽  
European Thought ◽  
The Devil ◽  
Huge Variety

This is the first book to examine in depth the intellectual and cultural impact of the oracles of pagan antiquity on modern European thought. The book shows how the study of the oracles influenced, and was influenced by, some of the most significant developments in early modernity, such as the Christian humanist recovery of ancient religion, confessional polemics, Deist and libertine challenges to religion, antiquarianism and early archaeology, Romantic historiography, and spiritualism. The book examines the different views of the oracles since the Renaissance—that they were the work of the devil, or natural causes, or the fraud of priests, or finally an organic element of ancient Greek society. The range of discussion on the subject, as he demonstrates, is considerably more complex than has been realized before: hundreds of scholars, theologians, and critics commented on the oracles, drawing on a huge variety of intellectual contexts to frame their beliefs. A central chapter interrogates the landmark dispute on the oracles between Bernard de Fontenelle and Jean-François Baltus, challenging Whiggish assumptions about the mechanics of debate on the cusp of the Enlightenment. With erudition and an eye for detail, the book argues that, on both sides of the controversy, to speak of the ancient oracles in early modernity was to speak of one's own historical identity as a Christian.

scholarly journals Freud, Said, and the ancient and classical worlds

Literator ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger M. Field
Keyword(s):  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Society ◽  
Scientific Revolutions ◽  
Structure Of Scientific Revolutions ◽  
Mass Psychology ◽  
The Impact

Sigmund Freud’s reading of the classics and Greek mythology is well documented. By contrast, Edward Said’s reading of Freud has received little attention. This article considers three main issues: how Said and Freud thought about and used ancient and classical Greek literature; the ways in which Said has read Freud reading the ancient and classical worlds; the significance of ambivalence and analogy for these readings. The article concludes that there is a necessary relationship between analogy and ambivalence. Primarily chronological, the reading also draws on Freud’s notions of latency and repression to track how Said’s approaches to ambivalence and analogy changed. In the case of Said, it is possible to attribute some of these changes to the impact of Bernal’s Black Athena, which encouraged him to review the notions of ancient Greek society which underpin Orientalism, and to Bernal’s narrative inspiration, Kuhn’s The structure of scientific revolutions. Latency and repression make it possible to posit prehistories. Therefore, the article also examines the ways in which Freud and Said have been obliged to assume continuities between prehistory and history, and between individual and mass psychology.

scholarly journals A Comparison Between the Goddess Image in Ancient China and Ancient Greek Mythology from the Perspective of Female Values

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Min Zhou ◽  
Yan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Background ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Society ◽  
Moral Wisdom ◽  
The People ◽  
Personal Skills ◽  
Female Values

<p>Mythology, as a special cultural carrier, can reflect people’s spiritual values in a certain period and region. In ancient Chinese mythology and ancient Greek mythology, there are some goddess with similar attributes or symbolic meaning. Their symbolic attributes essentially represent some specific areas of women’s values, such as fertility, wisdom, love and marriage. Based on the mythology of ancient China and Greece as well as the ancient social background of the two countries, this paper analyzes and compares the goddess images in the myths of the two countries from the perspective of fertility, wisdom, love and marriage in the female values. In the aspect of fertility, China in the matriarchal society showed the worship of the supremacy of women. In the aspect of wisdom, the ancient Greek society affirmed the importance of moral wisdom, and also emphasized the necessity of acquiring personal skills, interests and reputation. In the aspect of love and marriage, women in both countries were victims of the patriarchal society, but the ancient Greek society emphasized the pursuit of individual hedonism and freedom. What’s more, the goddess images in Chinese mythology are romantic, while the goddess images in ancient Greek mythology is more humanistic. From these aspects, the comparative analysis of the two goddesses can reveal the characteristics, social causes and evolution of the ancient women’s values of the people of the two countries.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Allusion As The Way Of Rendering Elements Of Ancient Greek Mythology In The Tissue Of Modern Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 505-514
Author(s):  
Mirzaeva Aziza Shavkatovna ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Modern Literature ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
American Writer ◽  
The Way

World literature of XX century has experienced the great influence of postmodermism, which resulted in diversity of styles and refusal of well-known structures and forms. One of the most widely used stylistic devices, characterizing the features of postmodernism, is intertextuality. Appearing only in recent years, intertext become widespread with its own forms, such as allusion, quote and reminiscence. And the novel “Percy Jackson” b y American writer Rick Riordan seems to be an example of the use of intertext-allusion within the work. 12-year-old boy, Percy Jackson, becomes the part of adventeruos, danderous and exciting world of Ancient Greek Gods, legends, myths and heroes. This work tries to study and analyse the importance of allusion to understand the idea of the writer and interpret the used allusions in the first book of Riordan “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”.

scholarly journals FROM PROMETHEUS TO AMRAN: ON THE CHAINED HERO IN THE OSSETIAN EPIC

Kavkaz-forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Р.Н. АБИСАЛОВА
Keyword(s):  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
National Myths ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Difference

В статье рассмотрен один из мотивов осетинского Даредзановского эпоса – мотив прикованного героя, еще в древности вошедший в мифологию, фольклор, литературу многих народов и получивший название «мотив Прометея». Образ Прометея относится к «вечным образам» мировой художественной культуры. История прикования и освобождения Прометея и в древнегреческой мифологии, и в трагедии Эсхила позиционируется как топонимически привязанная к Кавказу. Именно здесь сюжет о наказанном Богом и прикованном богатыре получил распространение в национальных мифах и эпических преданиях – грузинских, осетинских, кабардинских, абхазских, вайнахских, армянских и др. Эти лаконичные предания об Амиране-Амране, по мнению Вс.Ф. Миллера, – кульминационные во всех источниках, рассказывающих об этом герое. Рассмотрены как древнегреческий Прометей, так и кавказские, в первую очередь осетинские, прикованные герои, представленные в работах Вс.Ф. Миллера, Г.Н. Потанина, Дз. Гатуева, Д.А. Калоевой, З.Г. Тменовой, Ю.А. Дзиццоты, Х.Ф. Цгоева и др. Образ Амирана сравнивается с соответствующими ему героями кавказских эпосов. При всей схожести мотивов богоборчества и наказания героя прикованием к скале или столбу нельзя не отметить отличия осетинского Амирана от остальных. В Даредзановских сказаниях он героическая личность, истинный богатырь, совершающий множество подвигов, побеждающий великанов, помогающий всем нуждающимся. Сын племянницы Бога, герой близок к народу, он побеждает врагов не только ради демонстрации силы, ловкости, хитрости, но и для спасения родных и друзей. В отличие от большинства кавказских прикованных героев, освобождение Амирана не предвещает гибель мира, напротив, осетинский Амиран, в случае освобождения, даст людям свободу и счастье. Многие мотивы в преданиях об Амране соотносятся с мотивами Нартовского эпоса. Амиран-Амран приравнивается к любимым героям осетинской Нартиады – Сослану, Батразу, Урузмагу, Шатане. В работе его образ рассмотрен для подтверждения объективной закономерности подобной репрезентации осетинского героя. The article deals with one of the motives of the Ossetian Daredzanian epic − the motive of the chained hero, which in ancient times entered the mythology, folklore, literature of many peoples and was called the "Prometheus motive". The image of Prometheus belongs to the "eternal images" of world art culture. The history of the chaining and liberation of Prometheus, both in ancient Greek mythology and in the tragedy of Aeschylus, is positioned as toponymically tied to the Caucasus. It was here that the plot about the God-punished and chained hero became widespread in national myths and epic legends − Georgian, Ossetian, Kabardian, Abkhaz, Vainakh, Armenian, etc. These laconic legends about Amiran-Amran, according to Vs.F. Miller, are culminating in all the sources telling about this hero. Both the ancient Greek Prometheus and the Caucasian, primarily Ossetian, chained heroes presented in the works of Vs.F. Miller, G.N. Potanin, Dz. Gatuev, D.A. Kaloeva, Z.G. Tmenova, Yu.A. Dzizzoity, Kh.F. Tsgoev and others. The image of Amiran is compared with the corresponding heroes of the Caucasian epics. With all the similarity of the motives of fighting against God and the punishment of the hero by being chained to a rock or a pillar, one cannot fail to note the difference between the Ossetian Amiran and the others. In Daredzan's legends, he is a heroic person, a true hero who performs many feats, conquers giants, and helps all those in need. The son of the niece of God, the hero is close to the people, he defeats enemies not only for the sake of demonstrating strength, dexterity, cunning, but also to save family and friends. Unlike most of the Caucasian chained heroes, the release of Amiran does not portend the death of the world, on the contrary, the Ossetian Amiran, if liberated, will give people freedom and happiness. Many motives in the legends about Amran correlate with the motives of the Nartov epic. Amiran-Amran is equated with the favorite heroes of the Ossetian Nartiada - Soslan, Batraz, Uruzmag, Shatana. In the work, his image is considered to confirm the objective regularity of such a representation of the Ossetian hero.

scholarly journals Intrapersoonlike transformasie by pastors – die paradoks van emosionele verwonding as bron tot genesing

2009 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Philip Nolte ◽  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
Carl Jung ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Human Face ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Wounded Healer ◽  
Literal Sense ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Psychiatric Setting ◽  
Meaningful Interaction ◽  
Emotional Disposition

Interpersonal transformation of pastors – the paradox of emotional trauma as source to healingThis article reflects upon the way in which the interplay between reason and emotion influences pastors’ lives and ministry. It studies the process of inner transformation as a meaningful way for pastors to become ‘healed healers’. Inner transformation is described in terms of Aristotle’s phronēsis and Paul Ricoeur’s movement from mimēsis1 to mimēsis3. The article agrues that ‘healing’ in no way purports that pastors are able to heal others in a literal sense, but merely that by being conscious of their own wounds, pastors can experience the paradox that their own wounds could become a source of healing. This approach to woundedness is interpreted from two distinct perspectives. Firstly, it is seen from the perspective of Jesus as the human face of God. Jesus’ emotional disposition towards the nobodies of his time is seen as paradigmatic for pastors’ relationships with others. Secondly, woundedness is seen within the context of the metaphor of the wounded healer as narrated in ancient Greek mythology, and used by Carl Jung in a psychiatric setting. It is not only pastors’ knowledge of the Bible, theological tradition and different pastoral and other therapeutic theories, models and methods that facilitates meaningful interaction between themselves and others. Central to pastors’ role as wounded healers is their conscious acknowledgement of their own humanity and therefore their own woundedness.

Ancient Greek Goddess Archetypes in the Modern World Politics

2021 ◽  
pp. 140-161
Author(s):  
Birsen Çetin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Collective Unconscious ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Presidential Debates ◽  
Significant Figures

Ancient Greek mythology has a significant place in modern Western culture. Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung believed that myths and mythological archetypes were the expression of people's collective unconscious. He used the archetypes to understand human psychology, as every archetype has strong personality traits that bring light to modern people's lives, because archetypal traits have reached today via collective unconscious. Archetypes are also significant figures contributing to science of communication that aim to analyze discourse, such that all of them have a different manner of discourse that is connected with their unique traits. Starting from this point, one of the most famous woman politician's, Hillary Clinton's, discourses in the 2016 United States presidential debates are analyzed on the purpose of revealing her traits related to ancient Greek goddesses.

scholarly journals Landscape and Hunting. The Economy of the Eschatia

Land ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christy Constantakopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Greek Mythology ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Classical Greece ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Greek Landscape ◽  
Archaic And Classical Greece

This paper explores the place of ancient Greek hunting within the Greek landscape and environment, with particular reference to the eschatia, the marginal, uncultivated (or marginally cultivated) land. It is part of a bigger project on the social history of hunting in archaic and classical Greece, where emphasis is placed on the economic and dietary contribution of hunting for Greek communities. Hunting has attracted scholarly attention, mostly as a result of the role that hunting narratives play in Greek mythology, and the importance of hunting scenes in Greek art. Rather than talking about the role of hunting in rites of passage, I would like to explore the relationships of different social classes to hunting (which is understood here to include all forms of capturing animals on land, including trapping and snaring). The ‘un-central’ landscape of the eschatia appears to be an important locus for hunting practices, and therefore, a productive landscape. Hunting in the eschatia was opportunistic, required minimum effort in terms of crossing distances, allowed access to game that could be profitable in the market, and made the transport of game easier to manage.

La différence sexuelle chez les Grecs

1998 ◽  
pp. 75-82
Author(s):  
Vigdis Songe-Møller
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Sexual Difference ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Human Vulnerability ◽  
Greek Thought ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
European Thought ◽  
Platonic Tradition

I want to look at two contrasting ways of seeing the relation between the sexes within ancient Greek thought by dividing Greek thought into two main traditions: the Platonic tradition from Parmenides through Plato to Aristotle, and what one might call 'the tragic tradition' including thinkers such as Anaximander, Heraclitus, and Empedocles. The Platonic tradition is characterized by hierarchical thinking in which the norm is unity, harmony and self-sufficiency. In Plato, this turns out to be the norm also for human existence, with the result that there is no room in his philosophy for thinking of sexual difference and sexual reproduction. When, on the other hand, conflicts, discord, and human vulnerability towards misfortune and death are looked upon as the constitutive elements of life-as with the tragic poets-sexual difference also plays an important part. When human existence is treated as something radically different from divinity, the Greek thinkers-in this paper exemplified by Empedocles and the tragic poets-tend to look upon sexual difference as a constitutive element in human existence. For the philosophers in this tradition, all being is constituted by two oppositional elements which do not form a hierarchy but rather an inimical antagonism. Misogyny is perhaps as strong in this 'tragic' tradition as it is in the Platonic-Aristotelian one. However, even if the former tradition has at least provided some space for thinking of sexual difference, it has not been very influential in western, European thought.

scholarly journals Ancient World of the Poet and Performance in Translations by Ants Oras

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-101
Author(s):  
Janika Päll
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
Greek Text ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Homeric Hymns ◽  
Performance Context ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Greek Hymns ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Third Person

This paper studies the means by which Ants Oras, scholar and professor of English and world literature, literary critic and translator, recreates the poetic space of ancient Greek hymns in his translations. The paper analyses his use of deictics (local, personal and temporal) in his translations of three Homeric Hymns: the 1st part of Hymn No. 3, to Delian Apollo, the Hymn No. 19, to Pan, and especially Hymn No 5 to Aphrodite. The special focus is on the initial and final parts of the hymns, where the Greek text reflects performance context, whereas Oras presents the poems in a more general, hymnal setting, leaving out the references which reveal the function of these hymns as epic prooemium.The analysis of the deictics within the Hymn to Aphrodite reveals that Oras does not adhere strictly to the third person viewpoint of the narrator (as opposed to first person in direct speeches of the characters), but enlivens his narration by frequent deictics which refer to narrator’s viewpoint, the poet’s ‘I’, or ‘here’ and ‘now’. This can only be occasionally explained with metrical reasons (preference to use monosyllabic deictics). This pattern of enlivening is in accordance to other practices, used by Oras in these translations: frequent personification of impersonalia (flight, mind) and multiplication of actors (objects of action becoming subjects, passive constructions turned active, and so on).

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