Ancient Divination and Experience

The introduction to this volume describes the contribution that it makes to scholarship on ancient divinatory practices. It analyses previous and current research, arguing that while this predominantly functionalist work reveals important socio-political dimensions of divination, it also runs the ri...

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Bibliographic Details
Contributors: Driediger-Murphy, Lindsay (Editor) ; Eidinow, Esther (Editor)
Format: Electronic Book
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 2019
In:Year: 2019
Further subjects:B Classical history / classical civilisation
B History of religion
B Comparative Religion
B Literary studies: classical, early & medieval
B Ancient religions & mythologies
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:The introduction to this volume describes the contribution that it makes to scholarship on ancient divinatory practices. It analyses previous and current research, arguing that while this predominantly functionalist work reveals important socio-political dimensions of divination, it also runs the risk of obscuring from view the very people, ideologies, and experiences that scholars seek to understand. It explains that the essays in this volume focus on re-examining what ancient people—primarily those in ancient Greek and Roman communities, but also Mesopotamian and Chinese cultures—thought they were doing through divination. The Introduction provides an overview of the content of each chapter and identifies key themes and questions shared across chapters. The volume explores the types of relationships that divination created between mortals and gods, and what this can tell us about the religions and cultures in which divination was practised
Access:Open Access
Persistent identifiers:HDL: 20.500.12854/32336