Bøger af Daniel Ogden

The Tyrants of Corinth is the first monograph in English devoted to the archaic tyranny of Corinth and the engaging legends of Cypselus and Periander, which embrace such themes as hidden babies, animal-helpers, arbitrary violence, necrophilia and vengeful ghosts.This detailed study of the ancient sources for the Corinthian tyrants analyses the tales associated with them comprehensively from the perspective of folklore and traditional narrative, including the miraculous birth and deliverance of Cypselus, Periander's consultation of the ghost of his wife Melissa at the Acheron Oracle of the Dead, and the saving of the bard Arion from the sea by a dolphin. Any lingering notions that the tales retain historical content are dispelled; Ogden's radical approach considers all the major episodes associated with both men to be entirely fictive. This allows for reinterpretation of individual details in the tales and for the recovery of lost storylines and symbolism lurking beneath the narrative that our ancient sources preserve for us. All the major sources are supplied in new translations in a convenient appendix, and brief consideration is also given to the tales' modern reception.The Tyrants of Corinth is suitable for scholars working on Greek tyranny, Greek history and mythology more broadly, and folklore, while also speaking accessibly to undergraduates encountering the history of Archaic Greece for the first time.

By comparing traditional narratives concerning archaic colonists and tyrants, Ogden shows that monarchic rulers in archaic Greece were often paradoxically conceptualized as deformed scapegoats. He also considers a range of related themes, including the myth of Oedipus, and the fables of Aesop.

Aristomenes was the legendary hero of the Messenian wars who led resistence against Sparta and yet, despite a full account of his heroic deeds by Pausanias, is now almost forgotten.

Deals with the Lucian's "Philopseudes or Lover of Lies". This book comprises a discussion, with translation, on this engaging and satirical Greek text with its ten tales of magic and ghosts. One of these is the famous story of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", and this conveys the flavour of the rest.

Surveys the places, performers, and techniques of necromancy as well as the reasons for turning to it. This book investigates the cave-based sites of oracles of the dead at Heracleia Pontica and Tainaron, as well as the oracles at the Acheron and Avernus, which probably consisted of lakeside precincts.