The culture of ancient Greece was thronged with personifications. In poetry and the visual arts, personified figures of what might seem abstractions claim our attention. The Greeks, in Dr Johnson's phrase, 'shock the mind by ascribing effects to non-entity'. This study examines the logic, the psychology and the practice of Greeks who worshipped these personifications with temples and sacrifices, and beseeched them with hymn and prayers. Dr Stafford conducts case-studies of deified 'abstractions', such as Peitho (Persuasion), Eirene (Peace) and Hygieia (Health). She also considers general...
The culture of ancient Greece was thronged with personifications. In poetry and the visual arts, personified figures of what might seem abstractions c...
