Envy, Poison, and Death

Envy, Poison, and Death
Author: Esther Eidinow
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199562601

This volume explores three trials conducted in Athens in the fourth century BCE; the defendants were all women charged with undertaking ritual activities, but much of the evidence remains a mystery. The author reveals how these trials provide a vivid glimpse of the socio-political environment of Athens during the early-mid fourth century BCE.

Spiritual Envy

Spiritual Envy
Author: Michael Krasny
Publisher: New World Library
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2012
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 160868069X

Krasny brings his wide-ranging knowledge and perceptive intelligence to a thoughtful and thought-provoking exploration of belief--and lack of belief. He helps believers and nonbelievers alike understand their own questions about faith and religion. Personal and universal, timely and timeless, this is a deeply wise yet warmly welcoming conversation, an invitation to ask one's own questions--no matter how inconclusive the answers.

Luck, Fate and Fortune

Luck, Fate and Fortune
Author: Esther Eidinow
Publisher: I.B. Tauris
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2019-01-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781845118433

The impulse to try to anticipate the future, and make sense of apparently random events, is irrepressible. Why and how the ancient Greeks tried to foretell the outcome of the present is the subject of Esther Eidinow's lively appraisal, which explores the legacy of ancient Greek notions of luck, fate and fortune in our own era, drawing on approaches to cognitive anthropology. Perhaps the most famous of all sites of prediction is the Oracle at Delphi. But the Delphic Oracle is only the best-known example from a landscape covered by oracular sanctuaries; while across the literary genres of antiquity there are myriad tales - such as that of doomed Oedipus - which wrestle with the cruel vicissitudes of fate and fortune. Exploring some of the key ideas of ancient Greek culture that resonate with modern conceptions of destiny, Eidinow examines the ancients' notion of luck as a means to explain daily experiences. Focusing on writers such as Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and Demosthenes, the author shows how concepts of fate in antiquity changed over time, in response to social and political currents.She draws too on modern cultural texts like "Terminator 2" and "Lawrence of Arabia", demonstrating how the recurring questions 'what if?' and 'why me?' are fundamental to the human relationship with an uncertain future, whether it be in the ancient past or the present day.

Glittering Vices

Glittering Vices
Author: Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung
Publisher: Brazos Press
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2020-06-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493422162

Drawing on centuries of wisdom from the Christian ethical tradition, this book takes readers on a journey of self-examination, exploring why our hearts are captivated by glittery but false substitutes for true human goodness and happiness. The first edition sold 35,000 copies and was a C. S. Lewis Book Prize award winner. Now updated and revised throughout, the second edition includes a new chapter on grace and growth through the spiritual disciplines. Questions for discussion and study are included at the end of each chapter.

Something Wicked

Something Wicked
Author: Carol Ann Lee
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2024-10-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789465850

On 20 August 1612, ten people from Pendle were executed before a vast crowd at Lancaster's Gallows Hill. The condemned and their associates had endured six months of accusations, imprisonment and torture; their treatment was such that one of the group died in Lancaster Castle's dungeons, while awaiting trial. Today, a thriving tourism industry exists in and around Pendle, the former home of the so-called witches, yet virtually everything we know about the case originates from a single source: Thomas Potts' Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches, hurriedly published in 1613 and distinctly skewed in favour of the prosecution. Until now... Sunday Times bestselling author Carol Ann Lee brings an entirely fresh perspective to the story by approaching it as true crime. Having worked in the genre for more than a decade, her research leads to revelatory discoveries, transforming our knowledge of those shadowy figures behind ill-famed names, and the terrible events that befell them. After four centuries of superstition and surmise, the two central, warring families - each headed by a fiercely independent widow working as 'cunning women' - emerge fully formed, as the book uncovers the reality of their lives and their alleged crimes before exploring the trial and executions. Along the way, we uncover the truth behind some of the story's most enduring mysteries: the legend of Malkin Tower and the final resting place of the Pendle witches. This is a ground-breaking book that will take the reader on a spellbinding journey into the dark heart of England's largest and most notorious witch trial.

Play and Aesthetics in Ancient Greece

Play and Aesthetics in Ancient Greece
Author: Stephen E. Kidd
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2019-05-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 110849207X

Explores the connections between art and play in ancient Greek thought, especially that of Plato and Aristotle.

John Cassian

John Cassian
Author: John Cassian
Publisher: The Newman Press
Total Pages: 910
Release: 1997
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780809104840

"John Cassian: The Conferences is the first complete English translation of the twenty-four dialogues between Cassian and the desert fathers of Egypt. A native of Dacia, Cassian (c. 360-430) joined a monastery in Bethlehem when he was in his early adult years. From Palestine, Cassian and Germanus, a companion, traveled several times to Egypt where they learned about the monastic tradition from the great desert masters or abbas. Cassian's writings here record twenty-four dialogues with fifteen abbas." "The Conferences have long been a key work in monastic circles and among scholars of spirituality. Ramsey's helpful introductions and annotations make them accessible to a new and broader readership. Careful attention to references, notes and appendices demonstrate the outstanding research and writing which helped produce this monumental volume."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved