Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical (Ancient World) 1st Edition by Walter Burkert (PDF)

Description

“Greek Religion . . . already has the standing of a classic, and the publication of an English version, which incorporates new material and is in effect a second edition, demands a toast . . . Anyone who pretends to survey Greek religion must be phenomenally learned. Burkert is. His book is a marvel of professional scholarship.” — London Review of Books”This book has established itself as a masterpiece, packed with learning but also rich in ideas and connections of every sort. Its appearance in a good English translation is an event not only for Hellenists but for all those interested in the study of religion . . . nobody else could have produced an account of the subject of comparable range and power. This will be the best history of Greek religion for this generation.” — New York Review of BooksCover illustration: detail from an Attic vase, 450 B.C., showing a victory sacrifice (The Mansell Collection).

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is a dense, dense book that assumes you know a decent amount about Ancient Greece. It goes very in-depth on all sorts of different aspects of it and also includes a lot of analysis and interpretation. When we think of “Greek religion” today we often picture some fantastic stories about a bunch of gods acting naughty. The author here works to describe it as much more than that, as a real concrete thing that defined social mores and united people in their day-to-day lives. I think he is largely successful. To understand the Greeks we must understand their religion, and I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to understand the Greeks. You can turn to virtually any random page and discover something new.

⭐In this book, Walter Burkert seeks to provide a comprehensive study in Greek religion during the Hellenic are. The work is monumental in its scope and content, and deserves a place in the library of anyone who needs to study such topics. In particular, I would recommend this text to people looking at comparative religion involving ancient Greece.There are a few points which are not mentioned in other reviews that I think are helpful to note.The first is that both the bibliography and the notes are extremely detailed (the notes section accounts for around 180 pages). This provides a serious student additional resources for studying any aspect covered in this book.The second is that the level of detail in areas such as festivals, animal sacrifice, groupings of gods, etc. is extremely high. This level of work allows a real reconstruction of the Greek worldview in relation to religious practice to be developed.All in all, an excellent work. Highly recommended.

⭐With all the texts dealing with the ancient world, Burkert’s is right up there among the ‘must read’ list. Burkert offers a definitive review of Greek Religion from the time of the Minoans right up until the early phases of Roman influence. I particularly found the section on the gods (ch. 3) compelling and a foundation for further reading. After reading this text cover to cover I feel I have attained a solid grounding in the basics of how the Greeks worshiped and how the Romans adopted their deities into the Roman pantheon.

⭐The only thing keeping me from giving this book a five-star review is that it is, essentially, a “text-book.” It isn’t very entertaining to read, but if you want a serious and accurate run-down of ancient Greek Religion then this is the book to buy.

⭐Presumably these were artifacts of the scanning process. I returned the Kindle version and ordered the paperback.

⭐Got this as a reference for a book I’m writing. In depth, well-written, excellent index. Matches related volumes then goes deeper. When an issue is unclear from the historical or archaeological record, the author will tell you what he thinks makes sense and why. I find his logic quite sound.

⭐Great book, quickly shipped!

⭐Wonderful detailed material from a master.

⭐I always found the ancient Greeks fascinating since I was kid. I’ve been looking for a book that explains the ancient Greek religions and their beliefs and why. But this book was nothing but disappointment because it does an awful job of explaining anything.His choice of words are also puzzling:One example: On page 25, when talking about the cave of Eileithyia at Amnisos, he never uses the name Crete which is the island where it is located. He preferred to use the word Knossos again and again. Why? I don’t know. To sound intellectual I guess.If you are going to use alternative names to locations, at least provide a Map. There is none in this book. Also, when describing things like sanctuaries and buildings and temples, at least provide diagrams and architechtural plans.Many Greek enthusiasts will be familiar with the Gods that are associated with animals. For example the Eagle is associated with Zeus, and the Owl associated with Athena. But in this book, when talking about the Gods, Athena in particular, he never mentions the Owl or the symbolism related to her. Why? This was supposed to be a book on the Greek religion and their gods. Symbolism is a key factor in all religions. Once again, the book is full of academic drivel that goes nowhere.One of the things that annoyed me the most was the Phoenicians were hardly ever mentioned in this book, despite the fact that’s where the Greek language originated from. Without Phoenicians there would be no Greek culture or Greek language. They are not even mentioned in the index. Either the book is unfinished, or the historian chose to pretend they played little to no role in Greek hsitory or didn’t exist at all. Fail.It might as well be study guide for the Iliad and the Odyssey because he kept referring to that again and again. It’s annoying. You might as well not waste time with this book at all and just stick with those two books instead.He contradicts himself on several occasions, for example, he says that Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are the three sons of Cronos, but then later mentions another God I forgot the name of. For crying out loud, if you are going to talk about a huge pantheon of Gods, including all their names and their relations with each other, then at least provide a family tree.But the worst thing about this book is that the historian got some of the most basic things about mythology so wrong. I was shocked. At the bottom of page 125 abut Zeus, it says he is the god associated with “Germanic Tuesday”. That is incorrect. It’s Thursday. Not Tuesday. Thursday is named after Thor, the Norse God of Thunder and Stroms and Zeus is the Greek equivilant. I cannot believe a historian got something so simple so wrong, it made me wonder what else did he get wrong.There is so much drivel in this book that every few pages can be summed up in a single paragraph.It feels like such a drag to read. It made an intersting topic boring. I give up half way through.Awful historian, terrible writing. Overall it is insipid academic drivel.

⭐The two previous reviews existing for this book quite rightly state that the author, Walter Burkert, is an expert in his field, and that this book is a masterpiece of comprehensive history of Greek Religion. Originally published in 1977, the first English translation was published in 1985. So as far as some of the information in the book stands, it may be considered slightly outdated by later historical and archaeological finds. In particular, I found aspects of the information referring specifically to the “Dorian invasions” a bit suspect; these are by no means considered historically accurate or relevant to Greek history by later scholars, so any differentiation in religion relating to the Dorians must be considered carefully.Having said that, this book is still a masterpiece – it offers an in-depth exposition of Greek religion from Prehistorical times through Minoan and the Mycenaean Age, through to Archaic and Classical Greek religious aspects, ending with a chapter explaining the links of religion to the “new” philosophy founded and taken up eagerly by many in the Greek regions.It is not an easy read, and I do not think a beginner to Greek history or religion would find it readily accessible. However, careful and considered reading, along with further reading as required on aspects which are assumed knowledge in the book offer the reader an extremely comprehensive understanding of Greek religion and religious aspects of prehistoric and historic Greece. Totally recommended for any serious and interested reader.

⭐A very thorough book.

⭐excellent

⭐An inspired piece of writing. Compelling and evidence-supported interpretations that never bog down into minutiae.

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