Forms of Astonishment: Greek Myths of Metamorphosis

Richard Buxton

OUP Oxford, Jul 23, 2009 - Literary Criticism - 304 pages

Forms of Astonishment sets out to interpret a number of Greek myths about the transformations of humans and gods. Such tales have become familiar in their Ovidian dress, as in the best-selling translation by Ted Hughes; Richard Buxton explores their Greek antecedents. One pressing question which often occurs to the reader of these tales is: Did the Greeks take them seriously? Buxton repeatedly engages with this topic, and attempts to answer it context by context and author by author. His book raises issues relevant to an understanding of broad aspects of Greek culture (e.g. how 'strange' were Greek beliefs?'); in so doing, it also illuminates issues explored by anthropologists and students of religion.

About the author

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Richard Buxton is Professor of Greek Language and Literature at the University of Bristol.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Forms of Astonishment: Greek Myths of Metamorphosis
• Author: Richard Buxton
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2009
• ISBN: 0199245495, 9780199245499
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical; Religion / Ancient; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural