Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek Myth and Religion

by Menelaos Christopoulos (Editor), Marion Meyer (Editor), Olga Levaniouk (Editor), Mercedes Aguirre (Contribution by), Richard Buxton (Contribution by)

Overview

Light and darkness played an important role beyond the division of time in ancient Greek myth and religion; the contributors to Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek Myth and Religion consider its function on both the individual and social level as manifested in modes of thought and behavior and expressed in language, beliefs, ritual, and iconography. The book is divided into five parts: color semantics, appearance and concealment, eye sight/insight, being and beyond, and cult. Each subdivision contains a wealth of information for the reader, ranging from detailed explanations of the interplay between lexical categories that denote darkness and light and the effect of blindness on metaphysical matters to the qualities of cultic light. This unique volume will be of interest to readers in fields as diverse as ancient Greek history, metaphysics, and iconography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739138984
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	09/25/2010
Series:	Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Menelaos Christopoulos is associate professor of ancient Greek literature in the Department of Philology at Patras University. Efimia D. Karakantza is a lecturer in ancient Greek literature in the Department of Philology at Patras University. Olga Levaniouk is an associate professor of Classics at the University of Washington.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction xv

Part I Color Semantics

1 The Significance (or Insignificance) of Blackness in Mythological Names Richard Buxton 3

2 Dark Skin and Dark Deeds: Danaids and Aigyptioi in a Culture of Light Efimia D. Karakantza 14

3 Brightness and Darkness in Pindar's Pythian 3 Aigla-Koronis-Arsinoë and Her Coming of Age Evanthia Tsitsibakou-Vasalos 30

4 S-light Anomaly: Dark Brightness in Euripides' Medea Spyros Syropoulos 77

Part II Appearance and Concealment

5 The Light Imagery of Divine Manifestation in Homer Soteroula Constantinidou 91

6 Trojan Night Ken Dowden 110

7 Tithonus and Phaon: Mythical Allegories of Light and Darkness in Sappho's Poetry Avgi-Anna Maggel 121

8 Erinyes as Creatures of Darkness Mercedes Aguirre 133

9 Journey into Light and Honors in Darkness in Hesiod and Aeschylus Sebastian Anderson 142

10 Hephaestus in Homer's Epics: God of Fire, God of Life Isabelle Ratinaud-Lachkar 153

Part III Eye-Sight/Insight

11 To See or Not to See: Blind People and Blindness in Ancient Greek Myths Françoise Létoublon 167

12 Blindness as Punishment Ariadni Tatti-Gartziou 181

Part IV Being and Beyond

13 Light and Darkness and Archaic Greek Cosmography Nanno Marinatos 193

14 Mystic Light and Near-Death Experience Richard Seaford 201

15 Dark-Winged Nyx and Bright-Winged Eros in Aristophanes' "Orphic" Cosmogony: The Birds Menelaos Christopoulos 207

16 The Bright Cypress of the "Orphic" Gold Tablets: Direction and Illumination in Myths of the Underworld Radcliffe G.Edmonds 221

Part V Cult

17 Light and Darkness in Dionysiac Rituals as Illustrated on Attic Vase Paintings of the 5th Century BCE Dimitris Paleothodoros 237

18 Light and Lighting Equipment in the Eleusinian Mysteries: Symbolism and Ritual Use Ioanna Patera 261

19 Magic Lamps, Luminous Dreams: Lamps in PGM Recipes Athanassia Zografou 276

Index 295

About the Editors 303

Editorial Reviews

This is a productive and welcome contribution to an under explored field, particularly in bringing the work of Greek scholars to an English-speaking audience....The index is useful, while extensive endnoting renders references unobtrusive to the casual reader, but valuable to the researcher. Overall, it is a physically and intellectually solid volume, well worth its price, and of more general interest than the title perhaps suggests.

Bryn Mawr Classical Review

A beautiful bunch of manifold studies, which lets us grasp the issue of light and darkness within the Greek world under several aspects and explore its very complexity.

Vinciane Pirenne

Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek Myth and Religion is an instructive and stimulating collection of authoritative essays on the semiotics and symbolism, the ritual, cosmological, social, and spiritual dimensions of light and darkness in ancient Greece. The editors draw on a wide range of literary, anthropological, religious, and historical scholarship to break new ground in the interpretation of Greek culture.

Seth L. Schein

Light and Darkness in Ancient Greek Myth and Religion is an instructive and stimulating collection of authoritative essays on the semiotics and symbolism, the ritual, cosmological, social, and spiritual dimensions of light and darkness in ancient Greece. The editors draw on a wide range of literary, anthropological, religious, and historical scholarship to break new ground in the interpretation of Greek culture.--Seth L. Schein, University of California at Davis

A beautiful bunch of manifold studies, which lets us grasp the issue of light and darkness within the Greek world under several aspects and explore its very complexity.--Vinciane Pirenne, Université de Liège

This is a productive and welcome contribution to an under explored field, particularly in bringing the work of Greek scholars to an English-speaking audience....The index is useful, while extensive endnoting renders references unobtrusive to the casual reader, but valuable to the researcher. Overall, it is a physically and intellectually solid volume, well worth its price, and of more general interest than the title perhaps suggests.--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

From the Publisher