Homer, the Bible, and Beyond

Literary and Religious Canons in the Ancient World
Erscheinungsjahr 2003
ISBN: 978-90-04-12665-7
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 2, 290 Seiten, Format (B × H): 168 mm x 248 mm, Gewicht: 612 g

Reihe: Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture

As distinct from the extant studies of ancient canonical texts, which focus either on literary (Greco-Roman) or religious (Judeo-Christian) canons, the present volume aims at bridging between these two fields by proposing the first comparative study of canon.
An international team of experts discusses the processes of canon-formation in societies of the ancient world, addressing such issues as canon and the articulation of identity; the hermeneutical attitude toward canonical texts; textual fixity and openness; oral and written canons; methods of transmission, and more. Among the topics discussed are Mesopotamian canons; Zoroastrianism; the Bible; Homer; literary and philosophical canons in ancient Greece and Rome; the New Testament; the Roman law; Rabbinic Judaism and Kabbalistic literature.
The future of the so-called Western Canon is one of the most hotly debated issues of the day. There is reason to believe that what is perceived today as a unique crisis, can be put into perspective by students of ancient societies, for the simple reason that the ancient world offers us the historical perspective of civilizations as a whole and allows us to study cultural phenomena in the longue durée.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Finkelberg, Margalit

Stroumsa, Guy

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums: Biblische & Klassische Periode
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Bibelausgaben, Bibelkonkordanzen, Synopsen
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft

Über Autor(innen)

Margalit Finkelberg is the author of The Birth of Literary Fiction in Ancient Greece (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1998) and of numerous articles on Greek language and literature, especially Homer. She has recently completed a book titled The Descendants of Hellen. Perspectives on Greek Prehistory.
Guy G. Stroumsa has published Barbarian Philosophy: the religious revolution of early Christianty (Mohr Siebeck, 1999). He recently edited, jointly with David Shulman, Self and Self-transformation in the history of religions (OUP, 2002). He is currently at work on a monograph on the mutation of religion in late antiquity.