Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity

Crystal Addey

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English

Routledge
25 September 2023

Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Religion: general; Ancient religions & mythologies

Series: Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies

Addressing the close connections between ancient divination and knowledge, this volume offers an interlinked and detailed set of case studies which examine the epistemic value and significance of divination in ancient Greek and Roman cultures.

Focusing on diverse types of divination, including oracles, astrology, and the reading of omens and signs in the entrails of sacrificial animals, chance utterances and other earthly and celestial phenomena, this volume reveals that divination was conceived of as a significant path to the attainment of insight and understanding by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It also explores the connections between divination and other branches of knowledge in Greco-Roman antiquity, such as medicine and ethnographic discourse. Drawing on anthropological studies of contemporary divination and exploring a wide range of ancient philosophical, historical, technical and literary evidence, chapters focus on the interconnections and close relationship between divine and human modes of knowledge, in relation to nuanced and subtle formulations of the blending of divine, cosmic and human agency; philosophical approaches towards and uses of divination (particularly within Platonism), including links between divination and time, ethics, and cosmology; and the relationship between divination and cultural discourses focusing on gender. The volume aims to catalyse new questions and approaches relating to these under-investigated areas of ancient Greek and Roman life. which have significant implications for the ways in which we understand and assess ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of epistemic value and variant ways of knowing, ancient philosophy and intellectual culture, lived, daily experience in the ancient world, and religious and ritual traditions.

Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity will be of particular relevance to researchers and students in classics, ancient history, ancient philosophy, religious studies and anthropology who are working on divination, lived religion and intellectual culture, but will also appeal to general readers who are interested in the widespread practice and significance of divination in the ancient world.

Edited by: Crystal Addey
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781032041728
ISBN 10: 1032041722
Series: Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 25 September 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

"Introduction: Divination and Knowledge in Ancient Greek and Roman Cultures 1 The Enigmatic Divine Voice and the Problem of Human Misinterpretation 2 Torch-Bearing Plato: Why Reason without the Divine is Not Philosophy After All 3 ""Work With The God"": Military Divination and Rational Battle-Planning in Xenophon 4 Divination and Decumbiture: Katarchic Astrology and Greek Medicine 5 Divination and the Kairos in Ancient Greek Philosophy and Culture 6 The Pythia as Matter: Plutarch’s Scientific Account of Divination 7 Divination and Female Sexuality: The Transformation of the Greek Pythia by the Church Fathers 8 ""Ethnic"" Divination in Roman Imperial Literature 9 Apuleius On Divination: Platonic Daimonology and Child-Divination 10 Astral Symbolism in Theurgic Rites"

Crystal Addey is a Lecturer in Classics at University College Cork, Ireland, and a Tutor for the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK. She is the author of Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism: Oracles of the gods (Routledge 2014).

Reviews for Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity

"""Cette synthèse, claire et efficace, sur les sujets complexes que sont l’astrologie et la théurgie platonicienne conclut ainsi l’ouvrage sur une précieuse et nécessaire réflexion sur la notion de rationalité antique."" (This synthesis, clear and efficient, on the complex subjects that are astrology and Platonic theurgy, thus concludes the work on a precious and necessary reflection on the notion of ancient rationality) - Kernos"