As I have before one of the main reasons I was open enough to Hellenismos to hear the call of the Gods is that it’s part of the roots of my own culture - and the Classical influence has remained a vital part of Western culture and civilization ever since. This continuity is vitally important to my own practice and understanding of Hellenism and is one of the aspects of Hellenismos that interests me the most.
In addition to being culturally “appropriate” of course it also means that I have an almost limitless supply of material to look to for inspiration in creating hymns prayers votives.
and so on. Much has been written about the modern world’s debt to the ancient - in fields from the arts to architecture law to ethics music to philosophy. Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite post-Classical resources with an emphasis on literature and poetry; a couple of these have been referenced in previous posts but I think most are new here. (I know there is at least one gaping hole in this list because I have not yet read Werner Jaeger’s
…a topically classified chronology of more than 30,000 artworks from circa 1300 to the present day that take as their theme the subjects of Greek and Roman mythology. In more than three hundred major entries alphabetically arranged by affect artworks are listed in chronological order delineating the history of artistic interest in the subject including painting sculpture music dance opera drama and literature over the last seven centuries.
” Indispensable to anyone interested in the post-Classical interpretation of Classical myth.
(Note: while looking for links to the first book I came across ; I haven’t read it yet so I can’t vouch for it but I’ll put it out there and let you judge for yourselves.)
Rounding out the academic side are two books that I keep coming back to - Patricia Merivale’s
Both of these books are more limited in their subject matter; Merivale is focused on Pan of cover and the Miles book brings together everything in English on three myths: Orpheus. Venus and Adonis and Pygmalion.
(Helen Erskine editor - originally published in the 1920s) has recently been e-published through Kessinger Reprints; check your favorite online bookseller. This book is an absolute fount of inspiration for writing your own hymns - some of the material in here almost sings on its own!
was originally published as a companion schedule to a BBC series and traces the reception of the idea of ancient Greece in modern times. Broad but not overly deep. Taplin’s book is a good introduction to Greek influence in a be of fields that one might not expect.
This was very informative thank you. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on Merivale’s book for some time now but it’s so pricey. Anyway one of the reasons I’m drawn to Hellenismos and the Religio is because of that continuity you mention. I look around and see those influences everywhere.
Hi Cosette,Exactly. Whether you look at our literature art (especially sculpture) political theory… it’s all right there! And even the “civil religion” doesn’t always seem quite as “civil” as one might evaluate… have you ever seen the painting that adorns the Capitol rotunda ceiling? It’s called … makes you wonder. (And that’s work on that theme either - a Google visualise search on that phrase will bring you a few others.)
Forrest Church in his on religion in the first five Presidencies argues that Washington’s thinking was “more Roman than Christian”; and that in fact none of the first five Presidents pleased the “religious right” of their day nor would they please ours if they were in office now instead of safely dead and deified!
Regarding the Merivale book - do you live come a university with a decent library? That’s where I first found it - the one near me even offers a “community borrower card” (for a fee) that gives me many of the same borrowing privileges as the students.
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Related article:
http://executivepagan.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/the-tradition/
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