Customer Reviews

Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore

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Although intended for the classicist, this excellent, erudite book is accessible to general readers (like me). Prof. Larson surveys everything that is known about nymphs, from their appearances in Greek literature to evidence of cult worship. She deals with little-known subjects like nympholepsy (which is NOT what Nabokov thought it was) and leads us on a tour of caves devoted to nymph worship. Illustrated with numerous black and white photos (but no Victorian paintings of nymphs; it isn't that kind of book). Hard to believe this is the first book on nymphs, but there will be no need for a second; this is definitive.

This is a rewarding attempt to qualify the current scholarship on the Nymphs. A major asset of the book is its diachronic overview of the material, from ancient to Modern Greece. This provides a depth and perspective lacking from many similar endeavours in Classics. Methodologically, Larson leans rather to the psychosexual than to the structuralist analysis. The book could be improved in some respects. The chapter "Nymphs in Poetry" is somewhat overdrawn and repetitive. The book has a lot of typos when it comes to the Greek, especially the Modern. In general, however, Larson has provided us with a specimen of fresh scholarship.