Miasma

Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion

By: Robert Parker

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Hardcover | 22 March 1990

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Hardcover
432 Pages

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21.7 x 14.5 x 2.7

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Anyone who has sampled even a few of the most commonly read Greek texts will have encountered pollution. The pollution of bloodshed is a frequent theme of tragedy: Orestes is driven mad; Oedipus brings plague upon all Thebes. In historical texts we find cities intervening in the internal affairs of others to `drive out the pollution'', or making war on account of it. Political orators represent their opponents as polluting demons. Purity is a constant concern in ritual texts, and any Greek underwent many small purifications in his everyday life. Certain abnormal religious movements of the archaic age made `purification'' the path to felicity in the afterlife. First published in hardback in 1983, Miasma is the first work in English to treat this theme in detail.

Industry Reviews

`This book is packed with information, most lucidly and judiciously presented, and should be of great interest not only to Classicists (who often know less of this important area than they should), but to anthropologists and sociologists in general (a knowledge of Greek is not required, since everything essential is translated)." Hermathena `anyone who seriously wishes to know about Greek ethics and culture will need to refer to this book' London Review of Books `[Parker's] substantial and important book has set new standards of perceptiveness and subtlety, quite apart from its sheer learning, in this difficult but rich and revealing field of study.' Times Literary Supplement

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1996 Preface	p. v
Abbreviations and Editions	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Purification: A Science Of Division	p. 18
Birth and Death	p. 32
The Works Of Aphrodite	p. 74
The Shedding Of Blood	p. 104
Sacrilege	p. 144
Curses, Family Curses, And The Structure Of Rights	p. 191
Disease, Bewitchment And Purifiers	p. 207
Divine Vengeance And Disease	p. 235
Purifying The City	p. 257
Purity And Salvation	p. 281
Some Scenes From Tragedy	p. 308
Epilogue	p. 322
The Greek for Taboo	p. 328
The Cyrene Cathartic Law	p. 332
Problems Concerning 'Enter Pure from . . .' Requirements in Sacred Laws	p. 352
Animals and Food	p. 357
The Ritual Status of the Justified Killer at Athens	p. 366
The Ritual of Purification from Homicide	p. 370
Exile and Purification of the Killer in Greek Myth	p. 375
Gods Particularly Concerned with Purity	p. 393
Indexes	p. 395
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Miasma

Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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