Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion: A Study in Survivals

by John Cuthbert Lawson

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Folklore

664 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1910

Reviews

[Edward Butler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some very interesting information here about modern customs and beliefs, but a lot of very dodgy inferences and dated historical theories as well.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely not what I was expecting. Far less mythology than I was expecting.

While the first half was what I would think of as traditional Greek folklore, the last half started out with a whole discussion of "vampires" which, it turns out, are not vampires in the traditional, Dracula type sense. More like zombies or revenants. It's a kind of a dark, gory, violent discussion. From there, he takes us in a discussion about funeral rights which leads into discussion about marital rights and the similarities between the two which leads to the very abrupt conclusion that all people really want is peace, love, and to live happily ever after.

Parts of the book really just read like the author wanted an excuse to backpack around Greece and figured out how to get a university to foot the bill. Nice gig if you can get it.

[Aleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an old book, with all the trappings of the scholarship of its time, but the material collected is absolutely fascinating.

[The Hellene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of amazing ethnocgraphic material. It contains the history of the cult of Demeter in the village of Eleusis, near Athens, that survived until 1801.