The Gods of Olympus: A History
Barbara Graziosi
Jul 2019 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Anne Flosnik
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8 hr 43 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
The gods of Olympus are the most colorful characters of Greek civilization: even in antiquity, they were said to be cruel, oversexed, mad, or just plain silly. Yet for all their foibles and flaws, they proved to be tough survivors, far outlasting classical Greece itself. In Egypt, the Olympian gods claimed to have given birth to pharaohs; in Rome, they led respectable citizens into orgiastic rituals of drink and sex. Under Christianity and Islam they survived as demons, allegories, and planets; and in the Renaissance, they triumphantly emerged as ambassadors of a new, secular belief in humanity. Their geographic range, too, has been little short of astounding: in their exile, the gods and goddesses of Olympus have traveled east to the walls of cave temples in China and west to colonize the Americas. They snuck into Italian cathedrals, haunted Nietzsche, and visited Borges in his restless dreams.
In a lively, original history, Barbara Graziosi offers the first account to trace the wanderings of these protean deities through the millennia. Drawing on a wide range of literary and archaeological sources, The Gods of Olympus opens a new window on the ancient world, religion, mythology, and its lasting influence.
In a lively, original history, Barbara Graziosi offers the first account to trace the wanderings of these protean deities through the millennia. Drawing on a wide range of literary and archaeological sources, The Gods of Olympus opens a new window on the ancient world, religion, mythology, and its lasting influence.
The gods of Olympus are the most colorful characters of Greek civilization: even in antiquity, they were said to be cruel, oversexed, mad, or just plain silly. Yet for all their foibles and flaws, they proved to be tough survivors, far outlasting classical Greece itself. In Egypt, the Olympian go...
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About the author
Barbara Graziosi, Professor of Classics at Durham University, is the author of Inventing Homer and coauthor, with Johannes Haubold, of Homer: The Resonance of Epic. She is coeditor of Homer in the Twentieth Century: Between World Literature and the Western Canon and The Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies.
Anne Flosnik is an accomplished, multi-award-winning British actress, with lead credits for stage, television, commercials, industrials, voice-overs, and audiobooks. She has garnered three AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for Little Bee by Chris Cleave, and four Audie Award nominations.
Barbara Graziosi, Professor of Classics at Durham University, is the author of Inventing Homer and coauthor, with Johannes Haubold, of Homer: The Resonance of Epic. She is coeditor of Homer in the Twentieth Century: Between World Literature and the Western Canon and The Oxford Handbook of Helleni...
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