Myth and Society in Ancient Greece - by Jean-Pierre Vernant (Paperback)

About the Book

Jean-Pierre Vernant delineates a compelling new vision of ancient Greece that takes us far from the calm and familiar images of Polykleitos and the Parthenon, and reveals a culture of slavery, of blood sacrifice, of perpetual and ritualized warfare, of ceremonial hunting and ecstasies.

Book Synopsis

In this groundbreaking study, Jean-Pierre Vernant delineates a compelling new vision of ancient Greece. Myth and Society in Ancient Greece takes us far from the calm and familiar images of Polykleitos and the Parthenon to reveal a fundamentally other culture -- one of slavery, of masks and death, of scapegoats, of ritual hunting, and of ecstasies.

Vernant's provocative discussions of various institutions and practices (including war, marriage, and sacrifice) detail the complex intersection of the religious, social, and political structures of ancient Greece. The book concludes with Vernant's authoritative genealogy of the study of myth from Antiquity to structuralism and beyond. "Myth," he writes, "brings into operation a form of logic which we may describe, unlike the logic of noncontradiction of the philosophers, as a logic of the ambiguous and the equivocal."

Review Quotes

"This scholarly collection of studies follows Vernant's Myth and Thought and Myth and Tragedy, offering further insights into Greek social structure, concepts of slave production and economic growth, and the efforts of myths to define and shape social choices. This is no casual opinion piece: Vernant refers to research from ancient texts, forms concepts of Marxist class struggles, city-state interactions and social reforms from the twin influences of myth and history, and examines the structure of Greek religion and myths as it pertained to historic events... a fascinating, penetrating study."--Diane C. Donovan, "The Midwest Book Review"

" This scholarly collection of studies follows Vernant's Myth and Thought and Myth and Tragedy, offering further insights into Greek social structure, concepts of slave production and economic growth, and the efforts of myths to define and shape social choices. This is no casual opinion piece: Vernant refers to research from ancient texts, forms concepts of Marxist class struggles, city-state interactions and social reforms from the twin influences of myth and history, and examines the structure of Greek religion and myths as it pertained to historic events... a fascinating, penetrating study." -- Diane C. Donovan, The Midwest Book Review

" This scholarly collection of studies follows Vernant's Myth and Thought and Myth and Tragedy, offering further insights into Greek social structure, concepts of slave production and economic growth, and the efforts of myths to define and shape social choices. This is no casual opinion piece: Vernant refers to research from ancient texts, forms concepts of Marxist class struggles, city-state interactions and social reforms from the twin influences of myth and history, and examines the structure of Greek religion and myths as it pertained to historic events... a fascinating, penetrating study." -- Diane C. Donovan, "The Midwest Book Review"

-- Diane C. Donovan, "The Midwest Book Review"

About the Author

The late Jean-Pierre Vernant was Professor of Comparative Study of Religions at the College de France in Paris.