Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Mythos Books) [Paperback]

Jane Ellen Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mythos | Publication Date: June 5, 1991

Jane Harrison examines the festivals of ancient Greek religion to identify the primitive "substratum" of ritual and its persistence in the realm of classical religious observance and literature. In Harrison's preface to this remarkable book, she writes that J. G. Frazer's work had become part and parcel of her "mental furniture" and that of others studying primitive religion. Today, those who write on ancient myth or ritual are bound to say the same about Harrison. Her essential ideas, best developed and most clearly put in the Prolegomena, have never been eclipsed.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928) was a pioneer in the academic study of myth. Using the then emerging disciplines of anthropology and ethnology, she demonstrates in this book (from 1903) that the mythological tales of the Greeks embody systems of belief which are widespread among societies both 'primitive' and 'advanced'. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

"Harrison's Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion is a book that breathes life. It is an exciting, deeply felt intellectual quest, with a broad view of the role of religion in life, ancient and modern. Harrison is not afraid to look for relevance in archaic cult, and doesn't flinch on finding it. From a study of Greek anthropomorphism, she can conclude, like a seeress looking beyond the early twentieth century: 'to be human is not necessarily to be humane.'"--Richard Martin, Princeton University

Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (June 5, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691015147
• ISBN-13: 978-0691015149
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,005,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A massive, awe-inspiring and indispensable book., December 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Mythos Books) (Paperback)

Indispensable, for anyone interested in archaic rite, comparative religion, or ancient Greek culture.

Reading and studying Jane Harrison's Prolegomena was such a pleasure. Her brilliance and wide knowledge shines on every page! Even today (Professor Harrison died of leukemia in 1928) modern scholars and intellectuals such as Walter Burkert and Camille Paglia continue to draw on her magnificent work. There are particular passages -- on ecstasy and asceticism, for example -- of such beauty that they seem to transcend scholarship and border on the divine. Her work is so thorough one begins to understand the weight of a great and complex society which myth itself only brushes. Her other works, including Themis and the dazzlingly concise Epilogemena also enlighten and inspire, but Prolegomena is the place to start.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Classic, March 3, 2003

By 

Mark Cooper (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Mythos Books) (Paperback)

Although published in the early 1900s and outdated in certain areas, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion is still an essential read for anyone interested in Greek Religion. Perhaps the best description of the book would be to call it the Greek Golden Bough.

In this classic work, Harrison sought to uncover the primitive substratum of Greek religion, so rather than focusing on the
Olympian deities, she spends the better part of the book discussing ghosts, 'demons', and the chthonic deities. The religious landscape that she illuminates is therefore nothing like the cheery and rational world of the Olympians. The dark, the creepy and the uncanny tend to predominate.

The book is very well-written, and the author's fascination with her material is infectious. I found it so powerful a reading experience that I can only describe Prolegomena in terms of a kind of anthropological prose poetry. Although its ostensible topic is a rather specialized and obscure field of enquiry, one comes away from the book with a feeling of having gained a deeper insight into that most general of topics, the human condition.

I have to agree with the other reviewer who emphasizes that this is not a book for those completely unfamiliar with ancient Greek religion. Moreover, parts of it might be frustrating and tedious for readers without knowledge of the ancient Greek language, since Harrison is constantly engaged in the elucidiation and discussion of Greek religious terminology.

All in all, an unforgettable book that, unlike most academic studies, is a piece of great literature.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book for lovers of Greek Mythology, April 17, 1998

By 

Silja Harel([e-mail]) (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Mythos Books) (Paperback)

This is no easy reading, and it is not for people totally without basic knowledge. Harrison, a great scholar who wrote in the 20s, won't tell you who Athena is- you should have a basic idea in order to enjoy the complex stories about her and all the Olympian deities! We didn't get the background told at school, only the stage when belief in the Gods was actually dead, preserved only as a cultural phenomenon. Harrison will tell you about the time when belief was ALIVE. If you want to know about the ceremonies, the secret rites, the hidden names, the shift of power from goddess to god... and in all this in a factual, reliable manner- then this is the book you should read!