Myth and Thought among the Greeks

by Jean-Pierre Vernant, Janet Lloyd, Jeff Fort

Overview

“Myth and Thought among the Greeks is Jean-Pierre Vernant’s magisterial first entry upon the scene of classical studies. As fresh and challenging as it was when first published in 1965, this new edition of his eighteen essays, which includes two previously untranslated chapters, will provide the English-speaking world with a long-overdue edition. As the very words of the title announce, two major themes run throughout this pathbreaking study. On the one hand, ‘myth’ and ‘thought’ suggest a certain transition from the mythic to the rational, from the fabulous to the philosophical, as an intellectual sea change that occurred within the social and political context of the Greek city-state. On the other hand, ‘myth’ and ‘thought’ also gesture to Vernant’s insistence on the legibility of mythic thinking and ritual practices as revealing categories of thought that yield their own logic. Hence, to understand mental categories we take for granted as our own, such as time, space, memory, work, craft, art, and even the idea of the person, requires acts of decipherment through the language, the ‘codes,’ of myth. The excitement of these essays lies in a virtuoso handling of data of every sort — archaeology, history, literature, and iconography — and the complex web of associations that emerge from these interdisciplinary investigations, all presented in lucid, readable prose. Myth and Thought has much to offer the specialist and nonspecialist alike, and to those not already familiar with Vernant’s work, the promise of much more in store.”
— Froma Zeitlin, Charles Ewing Professor of Greek Language and Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781890951603
Publisher:	Zone Books
Publication date:	06/13/2006
Series:	Zone Books
Edition description:	Revised Edition
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.92(h) x 1.23(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Jean-Pierre Vernant was Professor of Comparative Study of Religions at the Collège de France in Paris.


Janet Lloyd is a translator and writer living in England.

What People are Saying About This

Endorsement

A classic since it first appeared in 1965, this book has lost nothing of its originality and brio. A collection of essays whose themes are seemingly disparate... Myth and Thought among the Greeks owes its unity to Vernant's innovative methodology.... This book remains today a passionate and profound inquiry of the Greeks, both distant from and near to us in the evolution of their structures and mental activities.

—L'Ecrivain

From the Publisher

A classic since it first appeared in 1965, this book has lost nothing of its originality and brio. A collection of essays whose themes are seemingly disparate... Myth and Thought among the Greeks owes its unity to Vernant's innovative methodology.... This book remains today a passionate and profound inquiry of the Greeks, both distant from and near to us in the evolution of their structures and mental activities.

—L'Ecrivain

L'Ecrivain

A classic since it first appeared in 1965, this book has lost nothing of its originality and brio. A collection of essays whose themes are seemingly disparate... Myth and Thought among the Greeks owes its unity to Vernant's innovative methodology.... This book remains today a passionate and profound inquiry of the Greeks, both distant from and near to us in the evolution of their structures and mental activities.

Editorial Reviews

This brillant essay of historical psychology reveals and rediscovers the profound influence and meaning of Hellenism.

—L'Express

From the Publisher

This brillant essay of historical psychology reveals and rediscovers the profound influence and meaning of Hellenism.

—L'Express

Reviews

This brillant essay of historical psychology reveals and rediscovers the profound influence and meaning of Hellenism.

L'Express