(^144) THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS
cidates philosophy. The life of Tellus the Athenian, the happiest of men, reveals
the character and the values of those Greeks who fought and won in great bat-
tles like that of Marathon, defending their country against the Persian invaders
in the first quarter of the fifth century B.C.; god will punish their king Xerxes for
his sinful hubris, just as he did Croesus, Xerxes' prototype. Herodotus explains
through his manipulation of traditional tales (military numbers, strategy,
and"facts" will come later) why the Greeks defeated the Persians. These are
truths, too, but of another order, and they are the essence of mythic art.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
HERODOTUS
Romm, James. Herodotus. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. An introduction to
the historian that is appreciative of his literary art and the legends that it contains.
THE GODS, RELIGION, AND THE OCCULT
Bremmer, J. N. Greek Religion. Greece & Rome New Survey in the Classics, No. 24. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1994. A brief survey of modern scholarship on the
subject.
Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985 [1977]. The
most comprehensive modern survey of the subject.
. Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. Berke-
ley: University of California Press, 1983 [1972].
Détienne, Marcel, and Jean-Pierre Vernant. The Cuisine of Sacrifice among the Greeks.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989. Essays on blood sacrifice.
Dodds, E. R. The Greeks and the Irrational. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1951.
Dowden, Ken. Death and the Maiden: Girls' Initiation Rites in Greek Mythology. New York:
Routledge, 1989.
Drachmann, A. B. Atheism in Pagan Antiquity. Chicago: Ares Publishers, 1977 [1922].
Ferguson, John. Among the Gods: An Archaeological Exploration of Greek Religion. New York:
Routledge, 1990.
Garland, Robert. Introducing New Gods: The Politics of Athenian Religion. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cor-
nell University Press, 1992. How the Athenians introduced new gods and cults,
through political, economic, and spiritual motives.
Guthrie, W. K. C. The Greeks and Their Gods. Boston: Beacon Press, 1955. Still a reliable
introductory survey of Greek religion, but without the advantages of Burkert's an-
thropological and historical research.
James, E. O. Seasonal Feasts and Festivals. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1961.
Larson, Jennifer. Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore. New York: Oxford University Press,
2001. A comprehensive study from Homer through the Hellenistic period.
Leeming, David, and Jake Page. Myths of the Male Divine God. New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1996. Through a comparative analysis of many mythologies, the au-
thors trace the birth of the archetype (Trickster/Shaman/Animal Master) and its de-
velopment (Divine Child/Goddess Consort/Dying God/Sky God and Earth Mate/
King God) and finally the theologized Creator God and universalized God as Self