In this wide-ranging work on Greek religion and mythology Jan N. Bremmer brings together his
stimulating and innovative articles which have all been updated and revised where necessary.
In three thematic sections he analyses central aspects of Greek religion beginning with the
gods and heroes and paying special attention to the unity of the divine nature and the
emergence of the category 'hero'. The second section begins with a discussion of the nature of
polis religion continues with various facets such as seers secrecy and the soul and
concludes with the influence of the Ancient Near East. The third section studies human
sacrifice and offers the most recent analysis of the ideal animal sacrifice combining
literature epigraphy iconography and zooarchaeology. Regarding human sacrifice it
concentrates on the famous cases of Iphigeneia and the werewolves of Mount Lykaion. The fourth
and final section investigates key elements of Greek mythology such as the definition of myth
and its relationship to ritual and ends with a brief history of the study of Greek mythology.
The multi-disciplinary approach and rich footnotes make this work a must for anybody interested
in Greek religion and mythology.
