Thespis: Ritual Myth & Drama in the Ancient Near East

by Theodor Herzl Gaster

This study demonstrates the existence of a recurring pattern of seasonal ritual drama in the extant remains of Canaanite, Hittite, Egyptian, and Hebrew literature. The essential structure of a religious ritual designed to ensure the rebirth of the dead world is traced backwards to purely functional procedures and forwards to residual survivals in hymns, psalms, and other forms of liturgical composition.

It is of interest to philologists and archaeologists, to students of the theater, and to all who have been fascinated by The Golden Bough and the many studies growing out of it that have been made of the ritual forms underlying Greek tragedy and other literature.

Most of the book consists of translations of ancient texts, with Dr. Gaster's philological and archeological annotations, and his explanations of the particular ritual and worldview upon which each text is based.

Genres: Religion, Anthropology, History, Mythology

512 pages

First published January 1, 1961

Reviews

[Karen Witzler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met Gaster once in a bookstore, and accidentally insulted him by snobsplaining about the extent of the abridgement of Frazer's The New Golden Bough. Gaster, of course, had done the abridgement. He was very kind and pleased that I knew what he was talking about at all.

[Kim Matheson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly interesting, but nothing revolutionary. The standard hype from 50 years ago about how ancient myth, ritual, and drama all centers on the agricultural cycle and the themes of death vs. fertility.

I'm afraid the current academic trend has so heavily fought against parallelomania that I can't take this book without a lot of salt.

[Rochu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está bien pero en un intento un poco exagerado de erudición me parece que mete demasiadas cosas en la misma bolsa. Por ahí es porque este estilo de mitologías comparadas quedó un poco demodé, igual que su funcionalismo estricto. Pero bueno, sí está interesante, sí me parece coherente pensar muchos de estos mitos como estacionales. Y aprendí un par de mitos cananeos piolas. Recomiendo leer la intro y sólo los ejemplos que importen.