Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods

ISBN-13: 9780190663520 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 336 str.

Dwayne A. Meisner

Opis

Meisner offers a new interpretation of four Orphic theogonies: Derveni, Eudemian, Hieronyman, and Rhapsodic. The fragments of these poems, thought to be written by Orpheus, contained narratives of the creation of the cosmos and the births of the gods, but differed from the mainstream account of Hesiod's Theogony.

Recenzje

Dwayne Meisner's fascinating discussion of Orphic theogonies is the first of the topic after West's Orphic Poems of 1984. The intervening decades have especially seen the final publication of the Derveni Papyrus and other Orphic texts; this has triggered an intensive and controversial scholarly debate. Meisner proposes a new view that takes seriously the ritual function of these poems. His picture thus moves far away from West's and it has the potential to initiate a new scholarly consensus on an intriguing genre of Greek poetry.

O autorze

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.