SIBYLS AND SIBYLLINE PROPHECY IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

Parke, H. W. & (Brian McGing, editor)

ISBN 10: 0415003431 / ISBN 13: 9780415003438

Published by Routledge, 1988

About this Item

Corners are bumped. Pen lines to margins on about 9 pages. Pencil markings on 2 other pages. Small chip to one corner of DJ. Dustjacket has minor shelfwear and rubbing. Writing in pencil to front DJ flap. ; 236 pages; In antiquity a considerable number of books of prophecies went under the general title of "Sibylline Oracles". Rulers as significant as Augustus consulted them in time of danger or crisis for advice and prognoses. Increasing numbers of "ex post facto" prophecies, laying a particular interpretation on facts of recent history, came to be attributed to one of the mysterious Sibyls. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Cumaean Sibyl, who guides the hero in the sixth book of Vergil's "Aeneid" . In fact she was somewhat unusual in her similiarity to other oracular prophetesses, such as the Pythia. For where the latter prophesied in response to particular inquirers, one of the distinguishing characteristics of Sibyls was that they composed discursive verses for distribution to the world at large. This, Professor Parke's last book, which was virtually complete on his death in 1986, is an account of a subject both rarely treated in recent decades and difficult to access for all but the most expert. In its pursuit of the sometimes elusive Sibyls it ranges from Heraclitus to Eusebius, from Archaic Asia Minor to Christian Rome. This book should be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and academics of classics. Seller Inventory # 11803

Bibliographic Details

Title: SIBYLS AND SIBYLLINE PROPHECY IN CLASSICAL ...

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: 1988

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good-

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Sibyls and Sibylline Prophecy in Classical Antiquity, first published in 1988, is an authoritative account of a subject rarely treated in recent decades and difficult to access for non-specialists.

A considerable number of books of prophecies went under the generic title of Sibylline Oracles, which rulers consulted in times of crisis, the most famous literary example being the Cumaean Sibyl’s advice to Aeneas. But in fact the Sibyls were unusual from other oracles in several respects; most characteristically, they composed discursive verses for distribution to the world at large, as opposed to specific answers to individual inquirers. They thus came to be associated with the interpretation of recent history as much as the discernment of prognoses for the future.

In his pursuit of the often elusive Sibyls the author ranges from Heraclitus to Eusebius, from Archaic Asia Minor to Christian Rome, illuminating religion, poetry and politics in the ancient world.