Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece (Hardcover)

by Sarah Iles Johnston (Author) "So begins one of the most effective ghost stories of the twentieth century..." (more)
Key Phrases: familial dead, later archaic age, lex sacra, Semnai Theai, Short History of the Dead, Evil Eye (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
During the archaic and classical periods, Greek ideas about the dead evolved in response to changing social and cultural conditions--most notably changes associated with the development of the polis, such as funerary legislation, and changes due to increased contacts with cultures of the ancient Near East. In Restless Dead, Sarah Iles Johnston presents and interprets these changes, using them to build a complex picture of the way in which the society of the dead reflected that of the living, expressing and defusing its tensions, reiterating its values and eventually becoming a source of significant power for those who knew how to control it. She draws on both well-known sources, such as Athenian tragedies, and newer texts, such as the Derveni Papyrus and a recently published lex sacra from Selinous.

Topics of focus include the origin of the goes (the ritual practitioner who made interaction with the dead his specialty), the threat to the living presented by the ghosts of those who died dishonorably or prematurely, the development of Hecate into a mistress of ghosts and its connection to female rites of transition, and the complex nature of the Erinyes. Restless Dead culminates with a new reading of Aeschylus' Oresteia that emphasizes how Athenian myth and cult manipulated ideas about the dead to serve political and social ends.

"[This work] will represent the principal study of ancient Greek beliefs in the intervention of the dead, a topic of acute relevance to the study of classical literature, Greek religion, and the later cultures that spawned curse tablets and versions of Christianity." --David Frankfurter, author of Religion in Roman Egypt

"This is an incontestably useful book. . . . The author's scholarship is remarkable and her competence indisputable. Her laudably courageous and original analysis of the Erinyes leads us from archaic poetry, via the purificatory rituals and reforms of cult brought about by the mysterious Epimenides, to the Orphic tradition recently discovered in the Derveni papyrus--all of which enables Sarah Johnston to conclude by proposing an enthralling rereading of Aeschylus' Oresteia." --Philippe Borgeaud, author of The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece

From the Inside Flap
"[This work] will represent the principal study of ancient Greek beliefs in the intervention of the dead, a topic of acute relevance to the study of classical literature, Greek religion, and the later cultures that spawned curse tablets and versions of Christianity."--David Frankfurter, author of Religion in Roman Egypt

"This is an incontestably useful book. . . . The author's scholarship is remarkable and her competence indisputable. Her laudably courageous and original analysis of the Erinyes leads us from archaic poetry, via the purificatory rituals and reforms of cult brought about by the mysterious Epimenides, to the Orphic tradition recently discovered in the Derveni papyrus--all of which enables Sarah Johnston to conclude by proposing an enthralling rereading of Aeschylus' Oresteia."--Philippe Borgeaud, author of The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520217071
• ISBN-13: 978-0520217072
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,179,178 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sarah Iles Johnston, one of the best scholars I have read, August 3, 2005

By	Ioannis Sfinias (Athens, GREECE) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book as soon as it came out. I became a fan of S.I. Johnston as soon as I read her Hekate book.

In this book she describes the evolvement of the relationship between the living and the dead in ancient Greece. Being a Greek I was amazed of how much it has survived of what Greek think as far as the dead are concerned. It is very rewarding to see that so much of the old religion is still around us and that Christianity has not destroyed everything yet...

Having said that, this book is an academic endeavour and not a New Age or Neo-Pagan writing. Mrs. Johnston is a true scholar and she does honour to the University she teaches.

Read her other books too.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Overview, January 3, 2004

By	A. Quigley (Fargo, ND USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a fabulous overview of death and related issues (miasma, psychopomps, ect) in Greece. It was even written in an interesting style, which is refreshing for an academic book.

Originally, I took it out of the library for research on Hekate (Ms. Iles Johnson's pet subject), but I got caught up and ended up reading the whole book instead of just the chapters pertinent to my work. Fabulous. Someday, I will add it to my own library.