Singing for the Gods by Barbara Kowalzig

Singing for the Gods by Barbara Kowalzig

Singing for the Gods develops a new approach towards an old question in the study of religion - the relationship of myth and ritual. Focusing on ancient Greek religion, Barbara Kowalzig exploits the joint occurrence of myth and ritual in archaic and classical Greek song-culture. She shows how choral performances of myth and ritual, taking place all over the ancient Greek world in the early fifth century BC, help to effect social and political change in their own time. Religious song emerges as integral to a rapidly changing society hovering between local, regional, and panhellenic identities and between aristocratic rule and democracy. Drawing on contemporary debates on myth, ritual, and performance in social anthropology, modern history, and theatre studies, this book establishes Greek religion's dynamic role and gives religious song-culture its deserved place in the study of Greek history.

Review from previous edition Kowalzig leaves archaic Greece a richer and even more interesting place than she found it, and this book will make us all more suspicious and more attentive readers and touristsThis is a significant achievement. * Richard Hunter, The Anglo-Hellenic Review *
...a fascinating and ground-breaking study of the relationships between myth and ritual in Greek religious practices... * Brad Eden Consciousness, Literature and the Arts *
...a remarkable attempt to reconstruct Greek history of the archaic and classical periods though choral performance...the book is a monument to the possibility and the desirability of understanding Greek choral performance historically and Greek history as influenced by choral performance. * Richard Seaford Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
Anyone with an interest in Greek religion or choral poetry will have to consult this study. Its richness lies in its cumulative detail and its bringing together of literary, historical, anthropological and archeological evidence to contextualize the dynamics of cultic performance throughout the Greek world. * Jenny Strauss Clay Religious Studies Review *

Barbara Kowalzig is Leverhulme Research Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780199639502
ISBN 10	0199639507
Title	Singing for the Gods
Author	Barbara Kowalzig
Series	Oxford Classical Monographs
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2011-12-22
Number of pages	528
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.