On the Syrian goddess
By: by J.L. Lightfoot ; edited with introduction, translation, and commentary by J.L. Lightfoot
Contributors: Lightfoot, J. L
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 606
Subjects: Cults -- Syria -- Hierapolis (Extinct city); Hierapolis (Syria : Extinct city) -- Religion
Work titles: De dea Syria.
Description: "This is the first edition of and full-length commentary on On the Syrian Goddess, an ionic ethnography of the Holy City of Hierapolis in northern Syria, where the Syrian goddess, Atargatis was worshipped. This treatise is one of the most important literary sources for a religion of the Roman Near East in its native setting. Traditionally ascribed to Lucian of Samosata, the work has often been viewed as satire. Lightfoot argues for a much subtler reading, for the first time combining a literary and philological approach with the evidence of archaeology to set this complex treatise in the fullest possible context. The result bears on the religious culture of Roman Syria; on the genre of Herodotean ethnography and its revival and reception in the Second Sophistic; and on Lucian of Samosata himself. The edition is based on a collation of all existing manuscripts and an English translation is provided."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [552]-566) and indexes