Customer Reviews

Religions of the Ancient Greeks (Key Themes in Ancient History)

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First, this is not the comprehensive study of the subject that Burkert's work is. If you are looking for a comprehensive look at the subject, "Greek Religion" by Walter Burkert is the book to get.

However, this book offers an interesting set of topical studies which have added to my understanding of the topic. Price's viewpoint is quite useful in addition to any other books on the topic.

Material in the book includes an introduction to myths and festivals and to our source material in this area, a discussion of social control and Greek religion, gender roles in Greek religion and how this differed in Roman religion, and a look at how Greek religion was perceived by other groups (Romans, Christians, Jews, etc). Each of these studies adds to the field and is not a mere rehash of what I have read elsewhere.

I would recommend this book along with "Greek Religion" by Walter Burkert and "From Religion to Philosophy" by F. M. Cornford.