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Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn from Myths

In Greek Gods, Human Lives, classicist Mary Lefkowitz reintroduces readers to the literature of ancient Greece. Lefkowitz demonstrates that these stories, although endlessly entertaining, are never frivolous. The Greek myths — as told by Homer, Ovid, Virgil, and many others — offer crucial lessons about human experience. Greek mythology makes vivid the fact that the gods control every aspect of the lives of mortals, but not in ways that modern audiences have properly understood. We can learn much from these myths, Lefkowitz shows, if we understand that they are stories about religious experience — about the meaning of divinity, the nature of justice, and the limitations of human knowledge. These myths spoke to ancient audiences and helped them to comprehend their world. With Mary Lefkowitz as an interpreter, these myths speak to us as well.

  • Format
  • hardcover
  • Pages
  • 304
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9780300101454
  • Genres
  • mythology, history, philosophy
  • Release date
  • 2003