Prophets and Profits
Ancient Divination and Its Reception
1st Edition
Published on 5. September 2017
Book
Hardback
254 pages
978-1-138-29015-0 (ISBN)
Description
This volume examines the ways in which divination, often through oracular utterances and other mechanisms, linked mortals with the gods, and places the practice within the ancient sociopolitical and religious environment. Whether humans sought knowledge by applying to an oracle through which the god was believed to speak or used soothsayers who interpreted specific signs such as the flight of birds, there was a fundamental desire to know the will of the gods. In many cases, pragmatic concerns - personal, economic or political - can be deduced from the context of the application.
Divination and communication with the gods in a post-pagan world has also produced fascinating receptions. The presentation of these processes in monotheistic societies such as early Christian Late Antiquity (where the practice continued through the use of curse tablets) or medieval Europe, and beyond, where the role of religion had changed radically, provides a particular challenge and this topic has been little discussed by scholars. This volume aims to rectify this desideratum by providing the opportunity to address questions related to the reception of Greco-Roman divination, oracles and prophecy, in all media, including literature and film.
Several contributions in this volume originated in the 2015 Classics Colloquium held at the University of South Africa and the volume has been augmented with additional contributions.
Divination and communication with the gods in a post-pagan world has also produced fascinating receptions. The presentation of these processes in monotheistic societies such as early Christian Late Antiquity (where the practice continued through the use of curse tablets) or medieval Europe, and beyond, where the role of religion had changed radically, provides a particular challenge and this topic has been little discussed by scholars. This volume aims to rectify this desideratum by providing the opportunity to address questions related to the reception of Greco-Roman divination, oracles and prophecy, in all media, including literature and film.
Several contributions in this volume originated in the 2015 Classics Colloquium held at the University of South Africa and the volume has been augmented with additional contributions.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
10 b/w images and 10 tables
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
534 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-138-29015-0 (9781138290150)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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Book
08/2020
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E-Book
09/2017
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€60.99
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E-Book
09/2017
Routledge
€60.99
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Person
Richard Evans has taught at the Universities of South Africa and Cardiff. His research has focused on the political and military history of Greece and Rome, and the ancient topography of Sicily and Magna Graecia. He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies at the University of South Africa.
Content
Chapter 1: Introduction
Daniel Ogden
Chapter 2: Was Didyma (Branchidae) a False Prophet?
Richard Evans
Chapter 3: 'Who Wrote Greek Curse Tablets?'
Olivier Dufault
Chapter 4: A Story of Blood, Guts and Guesswork: Synthetic Reasoning in Classical Greek Divination
Ralph Anderson
Chapter 5: Value-Added Divination at Dodona
Philip Bosman
Chapter 6: Divination and Profit in the Roman World
Federico Santangelo
Chapter 7: Profiting from Prophecy: Q. Marcius Rex and the Construction of the Aqua Marcia
Alex Nice
Chapter 8: Valerius Maximus and the Language of Stars
Jeffrey Murray
Chapter 9: "Arrows Fletched from Our Own Wings": Discovering a 'Delphi of the Mind' in the Writings of the Early Church Fathers
Daniel Crosby
Chapter 10: Egyptian Necromancy in Heliodorus Aethiopica (6.12-15) and The Witch of Endor Narrative (1 Sam 28)
John Hilton
Chapter 11: Sosipatra: Prophetess, Philosopher and Theurgist: Reflections on Divination and Epistemology in Late Antiquity
Crystal Addey
Chapter 12: One Oracle too Many? Corippus and Procopius on Female Prophecy in North Africa
Martine de Marre
Chapter 13: Deconstructing Divination: Superstition, Anticlericalism, and Cicero's De Divinatione in Enlightenment England
Katherine East
Chapter 14: Prophecy and Paul Kruger: Robert Grendon's Appropriation of Greco-Roman Prophets and Prophetic Devices in his South African Epic, Paul Kruger's Dream
Szerdi Nagy
Chapter 15: Cassandra Prophesies Back: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Firebrand
Elke Steinmeyer
Daniel Ogden
Chapter 2: Was Didyma (Branchidae) a False Prophet?
Richard Evans
Chapter 3: 'Who Wrote Greek Curse Tablets?'
Olivier Dufault
Chapter 4: A Story of Blood, Guts and Guesswork: Synthetic Reasoning in Classical Greek Divination
Ralph Anderson
Chapter 5: Value-Added Divination at Dodona
Philip Bosman
Chapter 6: Divination and Profit in the Roman World
Federico Santangelo
Chapter 7: Profiting from Prophecy: Q. Marcius Rex and the Construction of the Aqua Marcia
Alex Nice
Chapter 8: Valerius Maximus and the Language of Stars
Jeffrey Murray
Chapter 9: "Arrows Fletched from Our Own Wings": Discovering a 'Delphi of the Mind' in the Writings of the Early Church Fathers
Daniel Crosby
Chapter 10: Egyptian Necromancy in Heliodorus Aethiopica (6.12-15) and The Witch of Endor Narrative (1 Sam 28)
John Hilton
Chapter 11: Sosipatra: Prophetess, Philosopher and Theurgist: Reflections on Divination and Epistemology in Late Antiquity
Crystal Addey
Chapter 12: One Oracle too Many? Corippus and Procopius on Female Prophecy in North Africa
Martine de Marre
Chapter 13: Deconstructing Divination: Superstition, Anticlericalism, and Cicero's De Divinatione in Enlightenment England
Katherine East
Chapter 14: Prophecy and Paul Kruger: Robert Grendon's Appropriation of Greco-Roman Prophets and Prophetic Devices in his South African Epic, Paul Kruger's Dream
Szerdi Nagy
Chapter 15: Cassandra Prophesies Back: Marion Zimmer Bradley's Firebrand
Elke Steinmeyer