Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind by Garth Fowden ISBN: 0-691-02498-7 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A seminal work (for academics)
Comment: Fowden, as a writer, is admittedly no model of lucidity; at the same time, he is writing for academics, and is thus able to compress a huge amount into a small space. If you are not used to academic prose, you will find this book very difficult; it would also help if you know a certain amount about the reception of the Hermetica in 19th and 20th century historiography, and perhaps a bit about the late Classical era.
At the same time, this book has been reprinted for a reason: it's the single most important historical argument about the Hermetica. For a long time, the Hermetica were understood to be purely Greek, essentially Hellenic misappropriations of pseudo-Egyptian ideas, recast in Neoplatonic style. What Fowden does is to show that these texts do have an important base within the dying Egyptian traditions of their day.
For non-specialists, this may seem like small potatoes. But it changes everything. If you have read Frances Yates, for example, she argued that these texts were grotesquely misread by Ficino and the Renaissance tradition, on three counts: (1) they thought the texts were really, really ancient, more or less contemporary with Moses; (2) they thought the texts were Egyptian, not Greek; and (3) they thought the texts were really about magic (and not philosophy). Now there's no question that the Hermetica are from 1st-2d century Alexandria, but they are _not_ simply Greek; they are, in a sense, Egyptian formulations that draw on the then-influential Greek modes of philosophical thought. Furthermore, it means that the texts we usually think of as the Hermetic Corpus can and should be correlated with the PGM (the Greek Magical Papyri and their Demotic associates), changing the whole character of the texts by giving them a wildly different literary and ritual context. In other words, the Renaissance got the dating wrong, but in many respects got the rest more or less right; as a result, Fowden's book not only changes the way we read the Hermetica in their Alexandrian context, but also how we make sense of the Renaissance magical revival (Ficino, Pico, Agrippa, Bruno, etc.).
If, having read this review, you think, "Who cares?" then this book is certainly not for you. If you think, "Wow! That's fascinating," then this is essential. I have seen the odd quibble with small points in Fowden's arguments, but I have not seen any serious attack on the main thrust of the book. Considering when it was first written, that's extraordinary.
But you do need to be comfortable with academic prose.
Rating: 2
Summary: Very Interesting but poorly written
Comment: This is a very interesting book on Hermes centered Egyptian-Greek religious practice in the pre-Christian era, much more illumination than the mere reading of mythologies. However the writing of it is unfortunate. The author fills, not just each page, but each paragraph with 1960's cliché and psychobabble that was popular with hip academia of the day. It is a trip back in time to read this now archaic speech.
This book deserves 4 or 5 stars except for its unreadability. It is difficult and arduous reading, as I found myself having to parse each sentence to extract it's meaning. I could only keep it up for short periods of time and hope to be able to finish the book someday.
If only the publishers were to have the book rewritten by someone with a broader writing ability, this book would be an invaluable addition to anyone's library with an interest in Egyptian-Greek pagan religion as practiced in that era.
Even with the books faults, the subject matter is so interesting that it may be worth the trouble for the hardy.
Rating: 4
Summary: though not illustrated, this book is still useful
Comment: The origins of Hermes Trismegistus, the sage cult hero of Graeco-Roman Egypt, to many people has seemingly been lost in the midst of time. This is the first investigation undertaken into his mystic by a social historian. The technical and philosophical aspects of Hermetica as normally seen as separate entities, but the author argues for their togetherness as was typical of philosophy and religion of that era. The book has no illustrations or photos and in that sense it is quite scholarly. Definitely for those who are religion-orientated, especially and more precisely interested in Hermes.
 |
Title: Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, With Notes and Introduction by Brian P. Copenhaver ISBN: 0521425433 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $33.00 |
 |
Title: The Other God: Dualist Religions from Antiquity to the Cathar Heresy (Yale Nota Bene) by Yuri Stoyanov ISBN: 0300082533 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Leyden Papyrus: An Egyptian Magical Book by F. L. Griffith ISBN: 0486229947 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 June, 1974 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
 |
Title: The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age (Routledge Classics) by Frances Amelia Yates ISBN: 0415254094 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplatonism of Iamblichus by Gregory Shaw ISBN: 0271023228 Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1971 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
