Honor thy gods : popular religion in Greek tragedy / Jon D. Mikalson.

By:

Mikalson, Jon D, 1943- [author]

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c1991.Description: xv, 359 pages ; 25 cmContent type:

text

Media type:

unmediated

Carrier type:

volume

ISBN:

0807820059
0807843482

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

882.0109

Contents:

The Deities -- Challenges to popular religious beliefs -- The pious and the impious -- Piety and honor -- The tragedians and popular religion.

Summary: "In Honor Thy Gods Jon Mikalson uses the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides to explore popular religious beliefs and practices of Athenians in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. and examines how these playwrights portrayed, manipulated, and otherwise represented popular religion in their plays. He discusses the central role of honor in ancient Athenian piety and shows that the values of popular piety are not only reflected but also reaffirmed in tragedies. Mikalson begins by examining what tragic characters and choruses have to say about the nature of the gods and their intervention in human affairs. Then, by tracing the fortunes of diverse characters - among them Creon and Antigone, Ajax and Odysseus, Hippolytus, Pentheus, and even Athens and Troy - he shows that in tragedy those who violate or challenge contemporary popular religious beliefs suffer, while those who support these beliefs are rewarded. Mikalson concludes by describing the different relationships of the three tragedians to the religion of their audience, arguing that the tragedies of Euripides most consistently support the values of popular religion." -- Back cover.

List(s) this item appears in: Anne Stewart's Collection

Holdings ( 1 )
Title notes ( 3 )

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Book - 7-day loan	CYA Library Main Collection	882.0109 MIK (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		00000011414

Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (pages [307]-317) and indexes.

The Deities -- Challenges to popular religious beliefs -- The pious and the impious -- Piety and honor -- The tragedians and popular religion.

"In Honor Thy Gods Jon Mikalson uses the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides to explore popular religious beliefs and practices of Athenians in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. and examines how these playwrights portrayed, manipulated, and otherwise represented popular religion in their plays. He discusses the central role of honor in ancient Athenian piety and shows that the values of popular piety are not only reflected but also reaffirmed in tragedies.
Mikalson begins by examining what tragic characters and choruses have to say about the nature of the gods and their intervention in human affairs. Then, by tracing the fortunes of diverse characters - among them Creon and Antigone, Ajax and Odysseus, Hippolytus, Pentheus, and even Athens and Troy - he shows that in tragedy those who violate or challenge contemporary popular religious beliefs suffer, while those who support these beliefs are rewarded. Mikalson concludes by describing the different relationships of the three tragedians to the religion of their audience, arguing that the tragedies of Euripides most consistently support the values of popular religion." -- Back cover.