Richard Buxton, Forms of Astonishment: Greek Myths of Metamorphosis, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp. xvi, 281.
- ISBN 9780199245499.
- $100.00.
Recension par Barry B. Powell (University of Wisconsin-Madison) dans Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.01.08.
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Présentation de l'éditeur:
Forms of Astonishment sets out tointerpret a number of Greek myths about the transformations of humansand gods. Such tales have become familiar in their Ovidian dress, as inthe best-selling translation by Ted Hughes; Richard Buxton explorestheir Greek antecedents. One pressing question which often occurs tothe reader of these tales is: Did the Greeks take them seriously?Buxton repeatedly engages with this topic, and attempts to answer itcontext by context and author by author. His book raises issuesrelevant to an understanding of broad aspects of Greek culture (e.g.how 'strange' were Greek beliefs?'); in so doing, it also illuminatesissues explored by anthropologists and students of religion.
Table des matières:
1. Narratives and their contexts 1. The Odyssey 2. Athenian drama 3. Visual arts 4. Hellenistic transformations 5. Post-Hellenistic narratives 2. The logic of transformation 6. Shapes of the gods 7. The human aetiology of landscape 8. Plants, trees, and human form 9. Challenges to the metamorphic tradition 10. Final thoughts on contexts