Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 160 pages
- Published by: Cambridge University Press February 22, 1991
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0521385997
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0521385992
-
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
- Weighs: 8 ounces
Product Review
"The outstanding characteristics of [Dodds'] workare a rather rare union of detachment and sympathy, a combination of precise scholarship and a degree of acquaintance with contemporary psychological theories unusual in a classical scholar, and last, but not least, an ability to write very well." The Times Literary Supplement
Product Description
Drawing on the abundant material available for the study of religious experience in late antiquity, Professor Dodds looks at the personal religious attitudes and experiences common to pagans and Christians in the period between Marcus Aurelius and Constantine. World-hatred and asceticism, dreams and states of possession, and pagan and Christian mysticism are all discussed. Finally, Dodds considers both pagan views of Christianity and Christian views of paganism as they emerge in the literature of the time. Although primarily written for social and religious historians, this study will also appeal to all those interested in the ancient world and its thought.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety: Some Aspects of Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine (Hardcover)
This is a series of lectures (4) comparing various aspects of Christian Pagan spirituality. Though it has the quality of a lecture it is very well footnoted and annotated; there are gems and wry comments sprinkled throughout. The method of comparison is one of textual literary analysis, something that might seem a little old-fashioned especially when one considers how little of the writings of Late Antiquity has come down to us. (Ie, you can't make generalizations on general religious behavior with such scanty evidence.) Get it for its fluent discussion of various Christian and Pagan sects and their sometimes silliness. BTW, the author is an admitted agnostic and is not above an irreverentor two on religion.
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