The study of ancient Greek religion has been excitingly renewed in the last thirty years. Key areas of interest have been: the relationship between religion and politics; new and unexpected perspectives opened up by archaeological finds; the symbiosis between myth and ritual; the role of gender differences in the practice and perception of religion; conceptual problems raised by the very notion of "religion." This volume gathers together challenging papers by many of the most innovative participants in this renewal. Almost all the articles have been revised by their authors and/or provided with Addenda, to take account of the most recent scholarship. One article has been translated specifically for this collection; another is for the first time provided with illustrations. No single school or style of approach is privileged: the aim is to illustrate a range of possible methods which may be adopted in the investigation of this endlessly fascinating material. The volume also contains an important introductory essay by Richard Buxton.
Richard Buxton works on ancient Greek literature (especially tragedy), and ancient mythology and religion. One of his main aims is to explore the contexts - for example, social life and the landscape - which can help us to recover the meanings which myths had for their tellers and hearers/readers (see his Imaginary Greece, 1994, and The Complete World of Greek Mythology, 2004).
In 1996 he organized a major international conference at Bristol, whose proceedings appeared as From Myth to Reason? (1999) Since 2003 he has been one of the editors of Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum and since 2006 he has been President of the LIMC Foundation. His book 'Forms of Astonishment: Greek Myths of Metamorphosis' was published in 2009. He will next be revising for publication a selection of his papers on Greek myth and tragedy.
He has taken part in a number of radio programs about myth. His work has been translated into nine languages.
