Tablet with Instructions for the Deceased in the Underworld, 350–300 B.C., Greek. Gold, 7/8 × 1 7/16 × 1/16 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Gift of Lenore Barozzi, 75.AM.19 How some ancient Greeks navigated their passage to a happier afterlife. By David Saunders / 10.30.2018 Curator, Department of Antiquities J. Paul Getty Museum Introduction[…]
Head of Janus, Vatican museum, Rome / Photo by Loudon dodd, Wikimedia Commons Sage advice from the ancients on new beginnings By Annelisa Stephan / 12.30.2012 We are in the territory of Janus, the ancient Roman god who gives us the name of our first month. Janus is the master of beginnings, as well as[…]
Detail from The Temple of Janus by Peter Paul Rubens. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Commons On January 1, we consider the origins of Janus, after whom this month is named. Dr. Caillan Davenport / 12.31.2017 Senior Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History and ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow Macquarie University January 1 can be a day of regret and reflection – did I really[…]
Illustration of the ancient palace of Malkata The grandeur that early European explorers had come to expect in royal building programs seems to have been reserved for sacred space and funerary complexes. By Dr. Steven Snape Reader in Egyptian Archaeology University of Liverpool Introduction For early European explorers in Egypt, it was inconceivable that the massive monumental[…]
Passing lion, brick panel from the Procession Way which ran from the Marduk temple to the Ishtar Gate and the Akitu Temple / Photo by Jastrow, Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons Gilgamesh, legendary ruler of Uruk, famous drinker, womanizer and battler against monsters, was a King Arthur of Mesopotamian antiquity. By Dr. Paul Kriwaczek British Historian Uruk[…]
/ An Aztec ceremonial knife with a cedarwood handle and flint blade. The figure of the handle is covered in turquoise and shell mosiac and represents an Aztec Eagle knight. 1400-1521 CE. (British Museum, London) / British Museum, Creative Commons This was a strictly ritualized process which gave the highest possible honor to the gods and was regarded[…]
Fragment of an inscripted clay cone of Urukagina (or Uruinimgina), lugal (prince) of Lagash. The inscription reads: “He [Uruinimgina] dug (…) the canal to the town-of-NINA. At its beginning, he built the Eninnu-(E-ninnu or Temple-Ninnu); at its ending, he built the Esiraran”. / Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen, Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons When secular governors supported by the armies appeared[…]
The Tauroctony / Photo by CristianChirita, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Wikimedia Commons The Roman deity Mithras appears in the historical record in the late 1st century A.D., and disappears from it in the late 4th century A.D. By Dr. Roger Pearse Ancient Historian Introduction The Roman deity Mithras appears in the historical record in the late 1st century A.D., and disappears from it[…]
Sacello Ipogeico (Heroon), Paestum, Italy / Photo by Berthold Werner, Wikimedia Commons Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 11.24.2018 Public Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, “hero” (ἥρως, hḗrōs) refers to a man who[…]
Puerto Rico: Capilla del Cristo Old San Juan / Wikimedia Commons Taking a look at the long tradition of stories that have shaped Puerto Rican culture. By Zain Deane / 07.24.2018 With a history spanning millennia, Puerto Rico is steeped in a multicultural mythology. From the Taíno to the New World, from the historic to the fantastic,[…]
With moralistic gods watching, it’s easier to be fair and cooperative. Olivier, CC BY-NC-ND For human groups to grow from small, intimate communities to the huge interconnected societies we know now, people needed to be willing to cooperate with strangers. Religion might have played a big role. By Dr. Benjamin Grant Purzycki / 02.10.2016 Senior Researcher, Department of Behavior, Ecology, and Culture Max[…]
Photo by bl3w, Flickr, Creative Commons Tracing the notion of ekplexis in Greek rhetoric and the connections in etymology, myth, and pictorial traditions, between the petrifying powers of art and the myth of Medusa. By Dr. Caroline van Eck Professor of Art History University of Cambridge Abstract The Dutch art theorists Junius and van Hoogstraten describe the sublime,[…]
Aegeus at right consults the Pythia or oracle of Delphi. Vase 440-430 BC. He was told “Do not loosen the bulging mouth of the wineskin until you have reached the height of Athens, lest you die of grief”, which at first he did not understand. / Photo by Zde, Antikensammlung Berlin, Altes Museum, Wikimedia Commons We speak of Greek religions or “cults” in[…]
The limestone Pyramidion of Ramose, from the top of the tomb of the ‘Necropolis Scribe’. Scenes on all four sides depict the worship of the sun. From Deir-el-Demina, New Kingdom, XIX Dynasty, 1279-1213 BCE. (Egyptian Museum, Turin) / Photo by Mark Cartwright, Creative Commons During one’s life on Earth in ancient Egypt, one was expected to uphold the principle[…]
“Phèdre et Hippolyte” (1802), by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin / Wikimedia Commons Classical discussions often get caught between that problematic binary of social constructionism vs essentialism. By Dr. Chris Mowat / 05.17.2018 Visiting Fellow in Classics Newcastle University Myth was a great tool with which the ancient Greeks were able to think about themselves and their place[…]
The Sebasteion, excavated in 1979-81, was a grandiose temple complex dedicated to Aphrodite and the Julio-Claudian emperors and was decorated with a lavish sculptural program of which much survives. / Photo by wneuheisel, Wikimedia Commons Augustus and the Julio-Claudian emperors’ successful reign over the vast Roman Empire were due primarily to provincial loyalty and acquiescence.[…]
The Sacred Way at Delphi with the remains of the Athenians’ Treasury The Delphic Oracle belonged to Apollo, and his priestess, called The Pythia, gave her oracles from inside Apollo’s temple. By Dr. Susan O. Shapiro (above) and Jessica Mellenthin Shapiro: Professor of History Utah State University Introduction The word, “oracle,” comes from the Latin[…]
The Triumph of Civilization / Photo by Grizzli, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Wikimedia Commons The enormous contribution of ancient Greeks to the progress of philosophy, natural sciences and arts, can’t be contested. Unfortunately, the role they played in the history of psychology is hardly mentioned. By Dr. Vlad Petre Glăveanu Associate Professor of Psychology Webster University Geneva[…]
Cylinder Seal with Griffins, Humans and a Winged Disk / Walters Art Museum, Wikimedia Commons The religions of the ancient world in the Near East and Mediterranean regions developed according to an inner logic of questioning growing out of the historical experience of peoples who were in more or less continuous interaction. By Dr. Eugene[…]
If we take off the cloak of reason and instead clothe with that of madness, we may have the chance to penetrate deeper, more occult realms of the spirit, where essential truths may be revealed to us. At least so thought Socrates. There was however one condition: this madness must be of divine origin. By[…]
The Pantheon in 1836, by Jakob Alt / Albertina, Wikimedia Commons Religious worship was a public affair for ancient Greeks and Romans. By E.M. Berens Temples The Roman Maison Carrée temple in Nice, France / Photo by Danichou, Wikimedia Commons In very remote times the Greeks had no shrines or sanctuaries devoted to public worship,[…]
Mt Etna, with Catania in the foreground / Photo by BenAveling, Wikimedia Commons Stories were used as an attempt to explain how and why certain phenomena in the world around us came to be. By Tom High / 08.23.2013 Myths are one of humanity’s oldest methods of understanding and responding to the environment. Long before[…]
Puzzling out the meaning of monsters in Beowulf, comparing the hero with Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon. By Dr. Victoria Symons / 01.31.2018 Honorary Lecturer in Literature University College London It’s no overstatement to say that Beowulf is – today – one of the most important surviving works of medieval literature. It is by[…]
The rise of Zeus. By E.M. Berens / 05.21.2014 Cronus (Saturn) Cronus was the god of time in its sense of eternal duration. He married Rhea, daughter of Uranus and Gaea, a very important divinity. Their children were, three sons: Aïdes (Pluto), Poseidon (Neptune), Zeus (Jupiter), and three daughters: Hestia (Vesta), Demeter (Ceres), and Hera[…]
Aeon-Uranus, Gaea, Carpi, Horae and Prometheus / Greco-Roman mosaic, Damascus Museum The ancient Greeks had several different theories with regard to the origin of the world. By E.M. Berens / 05.21.2014 The ancient Greeks had several different theories with regard to the origin of the world, but the generally accepted notion was that before this[…]
The air god Shu, assisted by other gods, holds up Nut, the sky, as Geb, the earth, lies beneath (950 BCE) The Egyptian religion and belief were spread beyond the domain of Ancient Egypt. By Stephan Weaver / 07.10.2015 Introduction Egyptian Mythology is the accumulation of myths derived from ancient Egypt from at least c.[…]
An Aztec ceremonial knife with a cedarwood handle and flint blade. The figure of the handle is covered in turquoise and shell mosiac and represents an Aztec Eagle knight. 1400-1521 CE. (British Museum, London) / British Museum The highest possible honor to the gods regarded as a necessity to ensure humanity’s continued prosperity. By Mark Cartwright / 05.03.2018[…]
Achilles at the Court of King Lycomedes. The sarcophagus had been sawed up to four plates which were installed into the facade of villa Borghese. The plates had been moved to the Louvre where the sarcophagus was reconstituted in integrity. / Photo by Ilya Shurigen, Louvre Museum, Paris As strong (or beautiful) and brave as they[…]
The stuff of legend. Shutterstock Norse mythology is having a moment as a leading author re-tells the tales for a new generation. By Dr. Carolyne Larrington / 02.21.2017 Professor and Tutorial Fellow in English St. John’s College University of Oxford The Norse gods are back and ready for a new generation in acclaimed fantasy author Neil Gaiman’s newly published book Norse Mythology. Yet the truth is[…]
We need to move beyond assumptions that religion is simply about dogmatism. Daniel Montemayor We need to move beyond assumptions that religion is simply about dogmatism, and should continue teaching religion within a secular educational structure. By Dr. Constant Mews / 03.19.2015 Director, Center for Religious Studies Monash University Myth and religion are terms re-entering public debate in Australia. Certainly, myth is a[…]