On Greek Religion

A provocative and wide-ranging entrée into the world of ancient Greek religion.

Robert Parker is Wykeham Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford. He is the author of Polytheism and Society at Athens, Athenian Religion: A History, and Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion.

This work, derived from a series of lectures given by the author at Cornell University in 2008, offers a discussion on a series of central questions in the domain of Greek religion. R. Parker achieves his goal with much maestria in this work, which is proof of an excellent knowledge of Greek religion, both ancient evidence and equal historiography, to which he returns frequently. To enrich his reflections, the author systematically echoes various interpretations of the issues he tackles, thus giving breadth to his analysis. All of these qualities make On Greek Religion an indispensable text for specialists in Ancient Greek religion, who will find in it abundant material for reflection.

Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge:

This book is an important step in its author's scholarly journey in the field of ancient Greek religion.... This work is outstandingly well-informed, well-written, clever and also very cautious.

Hugh Bowden:

This book derives from the Townsend Lectures given by Parker at Cornell in 2008, but its style is not noticeably different from that of Parker's two previous books.... Its scope is wider than those two works, both chronologically, dealing with material from the eighth to the second century BC, and geographically, covering the entire Greek world. Its ambition is also greater, in that its seven chapters and five appendices aim to provide an interpretation of Greek religion as a whole.... This is a very important book that everyone working in the field of Greek religion will have to read.

Jon D. Mikalson:

On Greek Religion has all the virtues we have come to appreciate in his writings: a fruitful blend of the factual and theoretical; a simultaneous inclination towards and distrust of categories, schemes, and generalities; scrupulous attention to detail; an awareness of what we do and do not and cannot know about Greek religion; precise and generous but not uncritical discussions of others' views; the integration of literary and epigraphical sources; common sense; and a lively style with touches of whimsy.

Although one might expect a mere survey from the title, Parker delivers far more than a beginners' summary. Rather, this book is a probing exploration of the methodological and interpretive difficulties associated with Greek religion from the eighth through the second centuries BCE.... This work provides a wealth of insights from one of the leading experts in the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended.

Marie-Claire Beaulieu, Tufts University:

[Parker's] vast knowledge of the documentary evidence for Greek religion makes this essay instructive and persuasive while the questions he proposes offer challenging perspectives on the nature of the Greek religious experience. This essay will be useful to scholars of ancient religion seeking to reassess the milestones of scholarship in the field and to explore complex theoretical and theological questions relating to Greek religion.