The Concept of the Goddess [Paperback]

Sandra Billington (Editor), Miranda Green (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415197899 | ISBN-13: 978-0415197892 | Publication Date: December 10, 1998 | Edition: 1

The Concept of the Goddess explores the function and nature of goddesses and their cults in many cultures, including:
* Celtic
* Roman
* Norse
* Caucasian
* Japanese traditions.
The contributors explore the reasons for the existence of so many goddesses in the mythology of patriarchal societies and show that goddesses have also assumed more masculine roles, with war, hunting and sovereignty being equally important aspects of their cults.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'An impressive and scholarly volume.' - Lynn Meskell, At the Edge

'Very highly recommended.' - The Cauldron

'... an outstanding source of information about goddesses not only of northern Europe, including Britain and Ireland, but also of Rome, the Caucasus and Japan.' - Wood and Water

'Highly recommended [it] illuminate[s] a profound understanding of the goddess, heretofore largely neglected by scholars or else romanticized by popular books.' - Annabel Lee, Runa

About the Author

Sandra Billington is at the University of Glasgow. Miranda Green is at the University of Wales College, Newport.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415197899
• ISBN-13: 978-0415197892
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sam Menefee (1950-date) was born in Denver, Colorado, coming of age in Louisiana and Virginia. He obtained degrees from Yale (where he was a Scholar of the House), Oxford (Rhodes Scholar), Harvard Law, Virginia, and Cambridge. He has been affiliated with the Centers for Oceans Law and Policy and National Security Law at UVA for over a quarter century, and currently serves as an adjunct professor at World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden. Menefee is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Society of Antiquaries, and the Royal Anthropological Institute; his first book, Wives for Sale, won the inaugural Katharine Briggs Prize of the Folklore Society. He has been admitted to the bars of seven states and the District of Columbia and is a recognized expert on piracy and maritime terrorism, having written over fifty-five chapters and articles on the subject, and been made a Huntingdon Fellow by the Mariners' Museum. Over the years, Menefee has tramped Hadrian's Wall and the Pennine Way, stalked red deer in the Highlands and hunted in Mozambique, sailed in the Bahamas and john-boated down the Yukon, rowed three times for the Oxford Lightweights and written a musical, and climbed in the Highlands and Alps (just making it to the top of Mount Sinai on a recent trip). Not yet content to raise bees in the country, he looks forward to new academic interests and other challenges.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, well-researched essays, January 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Concept of the Goddess (Paperback)

This is well-researched material, thoughtfully presented. I read many books of "modern myth"--like the abridged Golden Bough or the White Goddess--for their poetic and emotional value. But it distresses me when I hear these works of primarily-discredited information held up as valid sources of historical fact. The Concept of the Goddess presents an antidote to the uncritical acceptance of anything previously in print that mars some "Goddess books." This work has a great deal of inspiring material.