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.

'Was Greek Thought Religious? will raise eyebrows, and even hackles, in some quarters, but it represents an unprecedented contribution to the public debate, still simmering, about why the Greeks, or Hellenes, matter, whether in law courts or in sporting arenas...' - Bruce B. Lawrence, Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Professor of Religion and Chair, Duke University

'An enjoyable read, sure to inform readers seeking specific context and example for the impact of Hellenic ideals...' - P.B. Harvey, Choice

Autorentext
Louis A. Ruprecht Jr. is William M. Suttles Chair of Religious Studies at Georgia State University, USA

Inhalt
Was Greek Thought Religious?: The View From the Courts The Son Supplants the Father: Seduction, Socratic Piety and the Life of Virtue Pausanias at Olympia: The Greece Inside Rome The Short Career of Julian, the Apostate: Hellenism as Culture, not Religion Icons and Incarnation: Hellenism Becomes Heresy 'A Mingle-Mangle of Heathenisme': Renaissance Theater, Renegade Theater Childe Harold's Heyday: Lord Byron and the Levant Lunatics From Greece to Germany, From Aegina to Munich: Charles Cockerell and the Discovery of the Aegina Marbles The Ethos of Olympism: Greek Religion for Modern Times