Divination and knowledge in Greco-Roman antiquity
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Divination and knowledge in Greco-Roman antiquity
（Routledge monographs in classical studies）
Routledge, 2022
- : hbk
Available at 1 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Addressing the close connections between ancient divination and knowledge, this volume offers an interlinked and detailed set of case studies which examine the epistemic value and significance of divination in ancient Greek and Roman cultures.
Focusing on diverse types of divination, including oracles, astrology, and the reading of omens and signs in the entrails of sacrificial animals, chance utterances and other earthly and celestial phenomena, this volume reveals that divination was conceived of as a significant path to the attainment of insight and understanding by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It also explores the connections between divination and other branches of knowledge in Greco-Roman antiquity, such as medicine and ethnographic discourse. Drawing on anthropological studies of contemporary divination and exploring a wide range of ancient philosophical, historical, technical and literary evidence, chapters focus on the interconnections and close relationship between divine and human modes of knowledge, in relation to nuanced and subtle formulations of the blending of divine, cosmic and human agency; philosophical approaches towards and uses of divination (particularly within Platonism), including links between divination and time, ethics, and cosmology; and the relationship between divination and cultural discourses focusing on gender. The volume aims to catalyse new questions and approaches relating to these under-investigated areas of ancient Greek and Roman life. which have significant implications for the ways in which we understand and assess ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of epistemic value and variant ways of knowing, ancient philosophy and intellectual culture, lived, daily experience in the ancient world, and religious and ritual traditions.
Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity will be of particular relevance to researchers and students in classics, ancient history, ancient philosophy, religious studies and anthropology who are working on divination, lived religion and intellectual culture, but will also appeal to general readers who are interested in the widespread practice and significance of divination in the ancient world.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Divination and Knowledge in Ancient Greek and Roman Cultures 1 The Enigmatic Divine Voice and the Problem of Human Misinterpretation 2 Torch-Bearing Plato: Why Reason without the Divine is Not Philosophy After All 3 "Work With The God": Military Divination and Rational Battle-Planning in Xenophon 4 Divination and Decumbiture: Katarchic Astrology and Greek Medicine 5 Divination and the Kairos in Ancient Greek Philosophy and Culture 6 The Pythia as Matter: Plutarch's Scientific Account of Divination 7 Divination and Female Sexuality: The Transformation of the Greek Pythia by the Church Fathers 8 "Ethnic" Divination in Roman Imperial Literature 9 Apuleius On Divination: Platonic Daimonology and Child-Divination 10 Astral Symbolism in Theurgic Rites
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