Greek Myths and Mesopotamia: Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod

by Charles Penglase

This book investigates the nature & extent of Mesopotamian influence in Greek religious mythological works of the early archaic period, with the aim of elucidating Greek myths & the nature of the mythology involved. Beginning with Mesopotamian myths of the goddess Inanna & her consort Dumuzi, & the heroic warrior god Ninurta, the author examines major Greek works in the light of central Mesopotamian ideas, principally those incorporated in the journeys of the gods. Intriguing correspondences with Mesopotamian ideas & motifs shed light on the Homeric hymns to Apollo, Demeter & Persephone, Aphrodite & Athena, & on Hesiod's Theogony & Works & Days. Distinctive features are the careful & precise analysis of the myths, the extensive parallels adduced, & their complex & specific nature. This revelation of the extensive & comprehensive degree of Mesopotamian influence & the extraordinarily specific correspondences involved announce a breakthru in the study of Greek mythology & religion. These results are of significant interest, especially to scholars & students of ancient Greek & Near Eastern religion & mythology.

Genres: Mythology, Religion, History, Classics, Nonfiction, Poetry, Greek Mythology

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Koen Crolla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is considerably more serious than the previous one of these I read, but large swathes of it are pretty impenetrable unless you've got the texts it discusses next to you.
Penglase's slice through ANE literature is broader than Louden's was, but in focusing only on Mesopotamia and not the Ancient Near East more broadly, he does end up missing a significant part of the story a few times—most of the Greek exposure to Mesopotamian literature didn't happen through direct contact with the Assyrians, of course. It's clearly a deliberate choice, but it's still weird to me to spend, for example, an entire chapter on Pandora, the first woman created by the gods to cause all the woes of Man in punishment for a transgression, comparing the story to Enki and Ninmah and Atra-ḫasīs and then never even mention Eve.
A lot of the parallels Penglase finds are solid, a bunch are clearly spurious, same as it always goes. No attempt is made to establish any sort of timeline of borrowings and contact, or any kind of redaction history of any of the Greek texts, which would have gone a long way towards making this a work of philology instead of literary criticism wank, but for what it tries to be, and considering that this sort of study is still in its infancy even three decades later (however embarrassing that may be), it's absolutely fair enough.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does for archaic Greek mythology what Alexander Heidel's Babylonian Genesis did for archaic Hebrew mythology by relating it to earlier Mesopotamian parallels.

[Alford Wayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent text for beginners of Greek and ancient near eastern text. If one is well read in both this book ties it together quite nicely. The only draw back is the writer spends far to much time repeating summeries of the literature.

[Tomas Riklius · Rating 3 out of 5]

The argument of this book is highly interesting and important to have a wider and deeper understanding of Ancient Greek literature. I also understand that it is extremely difficult to draw any kind of comparison without providing examples from different versions of Mesopotamian myths. However, in a lot of places the argument is slightly overwhelmed by all the retelling of myths and their deconstruction which seems a bit redundant.

[Maan Kawas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about Mesopotamian influence in Ancient Greek mythology and religion in the early Archaic period. It investigates the nature of such influence through the study of recurrent motifs and patterns in Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Akkadian, and Ancient Greek myths. I found the book enchanting from the first pages. I do highly recommend it.

[Patricia Hatcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has some good information, but sifting through the terrible academic speak is a nightmare. It reminds me of how some people will write, repeating themselves, in order to reach a certain page count. There are even whole chapters that seem to restart halfway through, regurgitating the same information but in a different way. I'm not sure how the editor let this one slip through.

[lita · Rating 4 out of 5]

oleh2 dari kedatangan jendral james sabtu kemarin :d