Was Greek Thought Religious? : On the Use and Abuse of Hellenism, From Rome to Romanticism

The Greeks are on trial. They have been for generations, if not millennia, from Rome in the First century, to Romanticism in the Nineteenth. We debate the place of the Greeks in the university curriculum, in New World culture - we even debate the place of the Greeks in the European Union. This book notices the lingering and half-hidden presence of the Greeks in some strange places - everywhere from the U.S. Supreme Court to the Modern Olympic Games - and in doing so makes an important new contribution to a very old debate.

Ruprecht (humanities, Mercer U.) interrogates the way that ancient Hellenic thought and culture has been appropriated by other cultures, from the Roman Empire to the United States, in recognized and unrecognized ways. Touching on the religious ritual of the modern Olympics, the hidden Hellenic religious themes embodied in the Greek Temple of the Supreme Court and its ideologies, and other iconic tropes, he argues that appropriations of Greek philosophy attempted to hide the religious nature of Greek life while appropriations of Greek art demonstrate their religiosity. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Booknews

Ruprecht (humanities, Mercer U.) interrogates the way that ancient Hellenic thought and culture has been appropriated by other cultures, from the Roman Empire to the United States, in recognized and unrecognized ways. Touching on the religious ritual of the modern Olympics, the hidden Hellenic religious themes embodied in the Greek Temple of the Supreme Court and its ideologies, and other iconic tropes, he argues that appropriations of Greek philosophy attempted to hide the religious nature of Greek life while appropriations of Greek art demonstrate their religiosity. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 Preface 18 Chapter One: Was Greek Thought Religious? The View from the Courts 26 Chapter Two: The Son Supplants the Father: Seduction, Socratic Piety, and the Life of Virtue 50 Chapter Three: Pausanias at Olympia: The Greece Inside Rome 64 Chapter Four: The Short Pagan Career of Julian, the Apostate: Hellenism as Culture 84 Chapter Five: Icons and Incarnation: Hellenism Becomes a Heresy 102 Chapter Six: "A Mingle-Mangle of Heathenisme": Renaissance Theater, Renegade Theater 117 Chapter Seven: Childe Harold's Heyday: Lord Byron and the Levant Lunatics 135 Chapter Eight: From Greece to Germany, From Aegina to Munich: Charles Cockerell and the Discovery of the Pedimental Sculpture from the Temple to Aphaia 149 Chapter Nine: The Ethos of Olympism: Greek Religion for the Modern World 164 Appendix One: George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824): A Chronology 190 Appendix Two: Charles Robert Cockerell (1788–1863): Grand Tour Itinerary 198 Appendix Three: Johann Martin Wagner (1777–1858): Itinerary of His Greek Journey, 1812–1813 201 Notes 206 Annotation The Greeks are on trial. They have been for generations, if not millennia, fromRome in the first century, to Romanticism in the nineteenth. We debate the place of the Greeks in the university curriculum, in New World culture--we even debate the place of the Greeks in the European Union. This book notices the lingering and half-hidden presence of the Greeks in some strange places--everywhere from the US Supreme Court to the Modern Olympic Games--and in so doing makes an important new contribution to a very old debate

The Greeks are on trial. They have been for generations, if not millennia, fromRome in the first century, to Romanticism in the nineteenth. We debate the place of the Greeks in the university curriculum, in New World culture—we even debate the place of the Greeks in the European Union. This book notices the lingering and half-hidden presence of the Greeks in some strange places—everywhere from the US Supreme Court to the Modern Olympic Games—and in so doing makes an important new contribution to a very old debate.

Front Matter....Pages i-xxiv Was Greek Thought Religious?....Pages 1-24 The Son Supplants the Father....Pages 25-38 Pausanias at Olympia....Pages 39-58 The Short Pagan Career of Julian, the Apostate....Pages 59-76 Icons and Incarnation....Pages 77-91 “A Mingle-Mangle of Heathenisme”....Pages 93-110 Childe Harold’s Heyday....Pages 111-124 From Greece to Germany, From Aegina to Munich....Pages 125-139 The Ethos of Olympism....Pages 141-166 Back Matter....Pages 167-268 The U S. Supreme Court has been much in the news in recent years "Court watchers" are a permanent fixtures at most major news organizations, and Court decisions have become the stuff of dinner-table conversation The High Court has been asked to serve the very complex.