The "Sacred History" of Euhemerus of Messene
eBook - PDF

The "Sacred History" of Euhemerus of Messene

  1. 293 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The "Sacred History" of Euhemerus of Messene

About this book

In his utopian novel Hiera Anagraphe (Sacred History) Euhemerus of Messene (ca. 300 B.C.) describes his travel to the island Panchaia in the Indian Ocean where he discovered an inscribed stele in the temple of Zeus Triphylius. It turned out that the Olympian gods (Uranos, Kronos, Zeus) were deified kings. The travels of Zeus allowed to describe peoples and places all over the world.

Winiarczyk investigates the sources of the theological views of Euhemerus. He proves that Euhemerus' religious views were rooted in old Greek tradition (the worship of heroes, gods as founders of their own cult, tombs of gods, euergetism, rationalistic interpretation of myths, the explanations of the origin of religion by the sophists, the ruler cult). The description of the Panchaian society is intended to suggest an archaic and closed culture, in which the stele recording res gestae of the deified kings might have been preserved.

The translation of Ennius' Euhemerus sive Sacra historia (ca. 200 - ca. 194) is a free prose rendering, which Lactantius knew only indirectly. The book is concluded by a short history of Euhemerism in the pagan, Christian and Jewish literature.

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Yes, you can access The "Sacred History" of Euhemerus of Messene by Marek Winiarczyk in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
De Gruyter
Year
2013
Print ISBN
9783110278880
eBook ISBN
9783110294880
Edition
1

Table of contents

  1. Abbreviations
  2. I. The life of Euhemerus
  3. II. Euhemerus’ Ἱερὰ Ἀναγραφή
  4. III. The theological views of Euhemerus of Messene
  5. IV. Society and economy in the Ἱερὰ Ἀναγραφή
  6. V. The Zeus Sanctuary on the Island of Panchaea
  7. VI. An attempt to interpret the Ἱερὰ Ἀναγραφή
  8. VII. Ennius’ Euhemerus sive sacra historia
  9. VIII. Euhemerism in the ancient world
  10. IX. Conclusions
  11. Appendix I: Homines pro diis culti
  12. Appendix II: Deos homines fuisse
  13. Appendix III: The tombs of the gods
  14. Bibliography
  15. Indexes