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Religion in the Ancient Greek City

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Religion in the Ancient Greek City by Louise Bruit Zaidman and Pauline Schmitt Pantel offers readers what is probably the best introduction to Greek polytheism available. Originally published in France, it bears the marks of that country's historical tradition, that is, it is often theoretical and anthropological in its nature. This, however, only adds to its effectiveness by providing poignant insight and historical context to the information dealt with. The English translation has been slightly modified in that certain elements have been rearranged from the French version to make the readership more fluid, and it is.

Zaidman and Pantel pepper the text with helpful quotations from the original Greek sources as well as images of relevant artifacts to further the reader's understanding. The book begins by putting the reader in the correct mindset with which to study ancient polytheism, which is to leave modern definitions of religion and piety at the door and begin to see objectively a truly foreign culture. Next they delve into Greek rituals and mystery cults, and finally into the mind of the ancient Greek in how they saw and understood their deities. Athens is the dominant focus, though a few other cities do get a moderate amount of attention, and Classical Greece is really the period of concern. The chapters are split into subsections that are easy to comprehend. This being an introduction, it does not go in depth into any single element, but it does give a wealth of knowledge to equip the reader to capably research further. The bibliography, likewise, is extensive.

This book has a lot of good and useful informatin. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Greek Religion