Religion and the Self in Antiquity
Publishers Description
Many recent studies have argued that the self is a modern invention, a concept developed in the last three centuries. Religion and the Self in Antiquity challenges that idea by presenting a series of studies that explore the origins, formation, and limits of the self within the religions of the ancient Mediterranean world. Drawing on recent work on the body, gender, sexuality, the anthropology of the senses, and power, contributors make a strong case that the history of the self does indeed begin in antiquity, developing as Western religion itself developed.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Seeking Religious Selves
1. Shifting Selves in Late Antiquity Patricia Cox Miller
2. The Search for the Elusive Self in Texts of the Hebrew Bible Saul M. Olyan
3. The Slave Self J. Albert Harrill
4. Prayer of the Queen: Esther’s Religious Self in the Septuagint Esther Menn
5. Giving for a Return: Jewish Votive Offerings in Late Antiquity Michael L. Satlow
6. The Self in Artemidorus’ Interpretation of Dreams Peter T. Struck
Part II. Sensing Religious Selves
7. Sensory Reform in Deuteronomy Steven Weitzman
8. Locating the Sensing Body: Perception and Religious Identity in Late Antiquity Susan Ashbrook Harvey
9. Dialogue and Deliberation: The Sensory Self in the Hymns of Romanos the Melodist Georgia Frank
Part III. Teaching Religious Selves
10. From Master of Wisdom to Spiritual Master in Late Antiquity Guy G. Stroumsa
11. The Beastly Body in Rabbinic Self-Formation Jonathan Schofer
12. Making Public the Monastic Life: Reading the Self in Evagrius Ponticus’ Talking Back David Brakke
13. The Student Self in Late Antiquity Edward Watts
Contributors
Index
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ISBN: 9780253346490 (hardcover); 9780253217967 (paperback); 9780253111715 (ebook)