GOLD LEAVES

GOLD LEAVES
Author: Edward Jenner
Publisher:
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2014
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 9780994137654

The Gold Leaves is a study of ancient (c.400BC-300AD) verses, often fragmentary, incised on fragile gold leaves that have been found (and continue to be found) buried in graves and tombs in the culturally Greek parts of the Mediterranean world.

The Gold Leaves: (Being an Account and Translation from the Ancient Greek of the 'So-Called' Orphic Gold Tablets)

The Gold Leaves: (Being an Account and Translation from the Ancient Greek of the 'So-Called' Orphic Gold Tablets)
Author: Edward Jenner
Publisher: Atuanui Press
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2014
Genre: Dionysia
ISBN: 9780992245375

"The Gold Leaves is a study of ancient (c.400BC-300AD) verses, often fragmentary, incised on fragile gold leaves that have been found (and continue to be found) buried in graves and tombs in the culturally Greek parts of the Mediterranean world. These leaves have been placed carefully, perhaps on the chest, or in the mouth or in the hand, of the body. The leaves are messages designed to guide the souls of the dead on their journey to immortality and paradise. With this book Jenner aims to bring the Leaves to the attention of the reader who has no background in the Classics or ancient Greek but shares an interest in pre-Christian ideas about the soul, the Underworld and the afterlife." --Publisher's description.

Divine Mania

Divine Mania
Author: Yulia Ustinova
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2017-10-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351581260

‘Our greatest blessings come to us by way of mania, provided it is given us by divine gift,’ – says Socrates in Plato’s Phaedrus. Certain forms of alteration of consciousness, considered to be inspired by supernatural forces, were actively sought in ancient Greece. Divine mania comprises a fascinating array of diverse experiences: numerous initiates underwent some kind of alteration of consciousness during mystery rites; sacred officials and inquirers attained revelations in major oracular centres; possession states were actively sought; finally, some thinkers, such as Pythagoras and Socrates, probably practiced manipulation of consciousness. These experiences, which could be voluntary or involuntary, intense or mild, were interpreted as an invasive divine power within one’s mind, or illumination granted by a super-human being. Greece was unique in its attitude to alteration of consciousness. From the perspective of individual and public freedom, the prominent position of the divine mania in Greek society reflects its acceptance of the inborn human proclivity to experience alteration of consciousness, interpreted in positive terms as god-sent. These mental states were treated with cautious respect, and in contrast to the majority of complex societies, ancient and modern, were never suppressed or pushed to the cultural and social periphery.

Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition

Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2018-08-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004375961

Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition explores the theme of visits to the underworld in the ancient Greek and Byzantine traditions from a broad perspective including written sources, iconography and archaeology.

The 'Orphic' Gold Tablets and Greek Religion

The 'Orphic' Gold Tablets and Greek Religion
Author: Radcliffe G. Edmonds
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2011-01-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521518318

Examines new methodologies used in the study of these tablets. Includes an updated edition and translation of the tablet texts.

Instructions for the Netherworld

Instructions for the Netherworld
Author: Alberto Bernabé
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2008-01-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 9047423747

Orphic gold tables are key documents for the knowledge of rites and beliefs of Orphics, an atypical group that configured a highly original creed and that influenced powerfully over other Greek writers and thinkers. The recent discovery of some tablets has forced a noteworthy modification of some points of view and a review ofthe different hypothesis proposed about them. The book presents a complete edition of the texts, their translation and some fundamental keys for their interpretation, in an attempt at updating our current knowledge on Orphic ideas about the soul and the Afterlife stated in those texts. The work is improved with an appendix of iconographic annotations in which some plastic representations in drawings are reproduced related to the universe of tablets, selected and commented on by Ricardo Olmos.

Ritual Texts for the Afterlife

Ritual Texts for the Afterlife
Author: Fritz Graf
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2007-06-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134119674

Fascinating texts written on small gold tablets that were deposited in graves provide a unique source of information about what some Greeks and Romans believed regarding the fate that awaited them after death, and how they could influence it. These texts, dating from the late fifth century BCE to the second century CE, have been part of the scholarly debate on ancient afterlife beliefs since the end of the nineteenth century. Recent finds and analysis of the texts have reshaped our understanding of their purpose and of the perceived afterlife. The tablets belonged to those who had been initiated into the mysteries of Dionysus Bacchius and relied heavily upon myths narrated in poems ascribed to the mythical singer Orpheus. After providing the Greek text and a translation of all the available tablets, the authors analyze their role in the mysteries of Dionysus, and present an outline of the myths concerning the origins of humanity and of the sacred texts that the Greeks ascribed to Orpheus. Related ancient texts are also appended in English translations. Providing the first book-length edition and discussion of these enigmatic texts in English, and their first English translation, this book is essential to the study of ancient Greek religion.

Myths of the Underworld Journey

Myths of the Underworld Journey
Author: Radcliffe G. Edmonds, III
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2004-09-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521834346

Plato, Aristophanes, and the creators of the "Orphic" gold tablets employ the traditional tale of a journey to the realm of the dead to redefine, within the mythic narrative, the boundaries of their societies. Rather than being the relics of a faded ritual tradition or the products of Orphic influence, these myths can only reveal their meanings through this detailed analysis of the specific ways in which each author makes use of the tradition.

Redefining Ancient Orphism

Redefining Ancient Orphism
Author: Radcliffe G. Edmonds III
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2013-11-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107038219

In a paradigm shift, this book redefines Orphism as a polemical label for extra-ordinary religion, good or bad.

Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World

Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World
Author: Jan N. Bremmer
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2014-07-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3110299550

The ancient Mysteries have long attracted the interest of scholars, an interest that goes back at least to the time of the Reformation. After a period of interest around the turn of the twentieth century, recent decades have seen an important study of Walter Burkert (1987). Yet his thematic approach makes it hard to see how the actual initiation into the Mysteries took place. To do precisely that is the aim of this book. It gives a ‘thick description’ of the major Mysteries, not only of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries, but also those located at the interface of Greece and Anatolia: the Mysteries of Samothrace, Imbros and Lemnos as well as those of the Corybants. It then proceeds to look at the Orphic-Bacchic Mysteries, which have become increasingly better understood due to the many discoveries of new texts in the recent times. Having looked at classical Greece we move on to the Roman Empire, where we study not only the lesser Mysteries, which we know especially from Pausanias, but also the new ones of Isis and Mithras. We conclude our book with a discussion of the possible influence of the Mysteries on emerging Christianity. Its detailed references and up-to-date bibliography will make this book indispensable for any scholar interested in the Mysteries and ancient religion, but also for those scholars who work on initiation or esoteric rituals, which were often inspired by the ancient Mysteries.