Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece by Sarah Iles Johnston

by Sarah Iles Johnston

During the archaic and classical periods, Greek ideas about the dead evolved in response to changing social and cultural conditions—most notably changes associated with the development of the polis, such as funerary legislation, and changes due to increased contacts with cultures of the ancient Near East. In Restless Dead , Sarah Iles Johnston presents and interprets these changes, using them to build a complex picture of the way in which the society of the dead reflected that of the living, expressing and defusing its tensions, reiterating its values and eventually becoming a source of significant power for those who knew how to control it. She draws on both well-known sources, such as Athenian tragedies, and newer texts, such as the Derveni Papyrus and a recently published lex sacra from Selinous.Topics of focus include the origin of the goes (the ritual practitioner who made interaction with the dead his specialty), the threat to the living presented by the ghosts of those who died dishonorably or prematurely, the development of Hecate into a mistress of ghosts and its connection to female rites of transition, and the complex nature of the Erinyes. Restless Dead culminates with a new reading of Aeschylus' Oresteia that emphasizes how Athenian myth and cult manipulated ideas about the dead to serve political and social ends.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Death, Mythology, Religion, Spirituality, Magic

Hardcover

First published April 3, 1999

About the author

Sarah Iles Johnston is the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Religion and Professor of Classics and Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University.

Reviews

[Isis Rea-rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

First started looking at Sarah Iles Johnston's work because of my interest in the Goddess Hekate. This book is fantastic and well worth a read and investment to keep it on the shelves, no doubt one I will repeatedly return to over the coming years! Highly Recommended!

[Jano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un excelente texto. Te explica de una forma profunda las ideas y nociones que tenían los griegos, desde la época homérica hasta bien entrado el siglo V, sobre el papel de los muertos en el mundo de los vivos. A través de análisis comparativo, el cotejo de fuentes e hipótesis sugerentes, la autora plasma muy bien la evolución que se dio de muertos recogidos y tranquilos en el hades hasta un mundo de muertos amenazantes que podían afectar tu vida cotidiana.

[Paige Etheridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought this book to a theater run of "Frankenstein". That was an interesting dynamic. 😅

This is a dense read and I knew it would be. But I only crashed out towards the end but the actual end was strong.

I appreciated what I learned about the Greek culture as well as myself from this read. Everything from my sensations on swings, affiliations to certain cultures, superstitions, etc all explained here. I got more in-depth information on the Greek mythology as well.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

A solid, although a bit speculative book. It also tackles a rather fresh aspect of the Greek culture.