An Ancient Theory of Religion: Euhemerism from Antiquity to the Present

ISBN-13: 9780367871901 / Angielski / Miękka / 2019 / 190 str.

Nickolas Roubekas

Opis

An Ancient Theory of Religion examines a theory of religion put forward by Euhemerus of Messene (late 4th – early 3rd century BCE) in his lost work Sacred Inscription, and shows not only how and why euhemerism came about but also how it was - and still is - used.

Spis treści

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Why Study Euhemerism?

1. Euhemerus’s Euhemerism

2. Before Euhemerus

3. Returning to the Sources

4. Euhemerism and Atheism

5. Euhemerus, Divine Kingship, and Irony

6. Citing the Citations: Anti–‘Pagan’ Euhemerism and Identity Formation

7. Turning the Tables: Anti–Christian Euhemerism in Celsus

8. Seeing ‘Euhemerism’ Everywhere

Afterword: On the Use and Abuse of a Theory

Index

O autorze

Nickolas P. Roubekas is a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Ancient Languages and Text Studies, North-West University, South Africa. He received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the Aristotle University, Greece, and held research and teaching positions at the University of South Africa and the University of Aberdeen, UK.