Forms of Astonishment: Greek Myths of Metamorphosis
Contents:
- Lord Barrys Dream House?
- Forms of Astonishment - Hardcover - Richard Buxton - Oxford University Press.
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What are the implications of the notions of 'astonishment' Greek: Throughout Forms of Astonishment Buxton draws comparisons between the Greek evidence and data from other religious traditions, ancient and modern; he also introduces comparative material from the sciences, from modern painting and literature, and from the cinema and computer graphics.
In investigating metamorphoses of gods Buxton revisits the concept of anthropomorphism, arguing that the fact that Greek divinities were believed to change shape does not undermine the fundamentally humanlike form of Greek divinity.
He also examines certain strands of Greek tradition, particularly among the philosophers, which called metamorphosis into question, whether in relation to the gods or to humans. Individual chapters deal with transformations into the landscape and into plants or trees--in the latter case transformation stories are set against a background of cultural beliefs about "seminal" substances such as blood and tears.
Forms of Astonishment. Greek Myths of Metamorphosis » Brill Online
Overall, Forms of Astonishment raises issues relevant to an understanding of broad aspects of Greek culture, and illuminates issues explored by anthropologists and students of religion. Narratives and their contexts 1. The logic of transformation 6. Shapes of the gods 7.
How far should an interpreter allow "contextual charity" to render more acceptable a belief such as that in metamorphosis? Most today would accept a dividing line between inanimate and animate, but such was not necessarily true of the Greeks for whom springs were nymphs and rivers old men and mountains were gods. Clement of Alexandria very much disapproves. Drake, and Lisa Raphals. Bryn Mawr Classical Review In an interesting discussion Buxton describes anthropomorphism in the Near East, India, and Egypt, and again in the Jewish and Christian traditions. From Ancient to Medieval.
The human aetiology of landscape 8. Do they have a special mythology, as some scholars proposed? All gods can change into any shape they want. In an interesting discussion Buxton describes anthropomorphism in the Near East, India, and Egypt, and again in the Jewish and Christian traditions. Certainly Greek gods can appear in many forms, such as the mare-headed Demeter of Phigalia, and be transformed into almost any shape; but they always return to human form.
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Greek religion is in fact anthropomorphic, in spite of exceptions. Most today would accept a dividing line between inanimate and animate, but such was not necessarily true of the Greeks for whom springs were nymphs and rivers old men and mountains were gods. Hence many stories told of how now this figure, now that, was transformed into a feature of the natural world.
So Niobe was once a weeping maid, then a spring pouring from a mountain; Delos was a maid; Peirene, the spring at Corinth, was once a woman. Did the Greeks believe such stories? That depends on what you mean by believe, and to whom you are talking. Certainly trees are nymphs; countless examples prove it. One view held that humans themselves came from trees.
Forms of Astonishment
Or there is a generative power in human tears. Or from the blood of young men grows a plant--from Hyakinthos, Narkissos, Krokos, Adonis, and Agdistis. Blood is like semen, and is made of the same stuff. No wonder that these young boys, who die before marriage, end up giving birth to non-cereal plants. Can a god change its form?
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The Presocratics are hard to interpret on this point. Plato dismisses it out of hand.
Aristotle does not tackle the topic. Stoics and Epicureans adopted contrasting positions. Clement of Alexandria very much disapproves. From the Publisher via CrossRef no proxy journals. Macdowell Demosthenes the Orator.
Forms of Astonishment. Greek Myths of Metamorphosis. Richard Buxton. Use of comparative material, from other religious traditions, from. In this illustrated study, Richard Buxton analyzes Greek literary narratives and visual representations of the metamorphosis of humans and gods, as evidenced .
Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York: Metamorphosis in Greek Myths. Gordon - - The Classical Review 41 The Greek Theatre and Festivals: Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents. Pitt - - Journal of Hellenic Studies Moreno Feeding the Democracy: Markopoulos The Future in Greek: From Ancient to Medieval.