Structure and history in Greek mythology and ritual

W. Burkert

University of California Press, 1982 - Social Science - 226 pages

Discusses the concept of myth, looks at the traditions of Greek ritual, and considers specific Greek myths

Contents

• THE ORGANIZATION OF MYTH: 1
• Table Of Contents ITS THE CULTURE STUPID: 9
• ITS THE CULTURE STUPID: 11
• GAYS MARCH ON THE PENTAGON: 17
• TAILHOOK WITCHHUNT: 25
• THE PERSISTENCE OF RITUAL: 35
• BUT IS IT ART?: 43
• PC KIDNAPPERS: 53
• TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE SCAPEGOAT: 59
• PC GOES TO CHURCH: 65
• PC ATTHE NEW YORK TIMES: 75
• HERACLES AND THE MASTER OF ANIMALS: 78
• Cacus Indra and Melampus: 85
• OZZIE AND HARRIET IN HELL: 93
• Hunter Hero Savior: 94
• THE GREAT GODDESS ADONIS AND HIPPOLYTUS: 99
• THE ACADEMIC ZOO: 103
• BIG GIRLS DONT CRY: 105
• MACKINNON LUNACY: 115
• DIGGING THE GRAVE OF ARCHAEOLOGY: 121
• IN SEARCH: 123
• THE DEATH OF CRITICISM: 135
• Notes to Chapter I: 143
• WAR STORIES: 147
• HAND TO HAND COMBAT: 149
• Notes to Chapter II: 158
• GROWING UP ABSURD AT WELLESLEY: 165
• Notes to Chapter III: 168
• MY DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE ACADEMIC WILDERNESS: 173
• Notes to Chapter IV: 176
• COUNTER COUP: 181
• Notes to Chapter V: 187
• FRAT ATTACK: 189
• STRANGER THAN FACT: 195
• HIGH COURT BACKS HEARING IMPAIRED: 197
• ECONOMICS OF PANHANDLING: 199
• Notes to Chapter VI: 203
• HOMELESS MAN TO GET LAW DOCTORATE: 205
• INMATES SETTLE WITH AUTHORITIES AT ROLLING HILLS: 209
• Bibliography: 211
• PRESIDENT OF SMACTUP PROTESTS DISCRIMINATION: 213
• THE CHLOROPHYLL MANIFESTO: 217
• Selected Index: 219
• REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM: 223
• LETTERS: 241

About the author

German-born scholar Walter Burkert currently teaches at the University of Zurich. He is the leading active scholar of the religion of early and classical Greece. Burkert's work proceeds through intense, meticulous historical and philological investigation, seeking to understand Greek religion in and of itself. His studies wed philology and history with methods drawn from anthropology and resemble the work of Jonathan Z. Smith. But, unlike Smith, who seems to rule out diachronic considerations categorically in favor of synchronic taxonomies or analogical comparisons, Burkert remains interested in questions of long-term historical evolution and cross-cultural influence. Burkert gives particular attention to psychological causation and the biological roots of human behavior as revealed by the science of ethology. For example, his study of Greek sacrifice, Homo necans, roots the practice of sacrifice in the biological necessity faced by prehistoric hunting groups that killed to survive. Burkert suggests that this necessary, aggressive behavior gave rise to anxiety, but through the practice of sacrifice the unavoidable aggression, which otherwise threatened to destroy society, was redirected to its promotion instead. In Structure and History Burkert's theoretical concerns are larger, including both myth and ritual. The precise relation between myth and ritual has been a vexing question for scholars of ancient religions; Burkert places them side by side and links them at a structural level. He thinks ritual is older than myth, because it is a form of behavior found even in animals. Nevertheless, ritual and myth share several important features: Both depend upon basic biological or cultural programs of action and detachment from pragmatic reality. Both serve communication. Because myth and ritual are related in this way, it is possible for them to be found together. Burkert's Greek Religion is the current, standard handbook on the religions of ancient Greece. His most recent work has been devoted to examining the influence of the ancient Near East on archaic Greek civilization.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Structure and history in Greek mythology and ritual; Volume 47 of Sather classical lectures, Sather Classical Lectures, ISSN 0080-6684
• Author: W. Burkert
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of California Press, 1982
• ISBN: 0520047702, 9780520047709
• Length: 226 pages
• Subjects: History / Ancient / Greece; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology