Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods
Regular price
€117.99
14 days return policy
Shipping & Delivery
A01=Dwayne A. Meisner
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Dwayne A. Meisner
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=DB
Category=DCF
Category=DSBB
Category=HBLA
Category=HRKP
Category=NHC
Category=QRS
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_poetry
Language_English
PA=To order
Price_€50 to €100
PS=Active
softlaunch
Product details
- ISBN 9780190663520
- Weight: 558g
- Dimensions: 155 x 239mm
- Publication Date: 06 Sep 2018
- Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
The hatching of the Cosmic Egg, the swallowing of Phanes by Zeus, and the murder of Dionysus by the Titans were just a few of the many stories that appeared in ancient Greek epic poems that were thought to have been written by the legendary singer Orpheus. Most of this poetry is now lost, surviving only in the form of brief quotations by Greek philosophers.
Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods brings together the scattered fragments of four Orphic theogonies: the Derveni, Eudemian, Hieronyman, and Rhapsodic theogonies. Typically, theogonies are thought to be poetic accounts of the creation of the universe and the births of the gods, leading to the creation of humans and the establishment of the present state of the cosmos. The most famous example is Hesiod's Theogony, which unlike the Orphic theogonies has survived. But did Orphic theogonies look anything like Hesiod's Theogony? Meisner applies a new theoretical model for studying Orphic theogonies and suggests certain features that characterize them as different from Hesiod: the blending of Near Eastern narrative elements that are missing in Hesiod; the probability that these were short hymns, more like the Homeric Hymns than Hesiod; and the continuous discourse between myth and philosophy that can be seen in Orphic poems and the philosophers who quote them. Most importantly, this book argues that the Orphic myths of Phanes emerging from the Cosmic Egg and Zeus swallowing Phanes are at least as important as the well-known myth of Dionysus being dismembered by the Titans, long thought to have been the central myth of Orphism. As this book amply demonstrates, Orphic literature was a diverse and ever-changing tradition by which authors were able to think about the most current philosophical ideas through the medium of the most traditional poetic forms.
Dwayne Meisner grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada where he earned his first two degrees at the University of Regina. In 2015, he completed his PhD in Classical Studies at the University of Western Ontario, and then returned to the University of Regina to work as a Sessional Lecturer. He specializes in the study of ritual and myth, with a particular focus on ancient Greek ritual.
