Goddess And God

The author recounts how the Greek gods and godesses earned their thrones on Mount Olympus, and retells some of the myths she learned as a child.

Giving Western literature and art many of its most enduring themes and archetypes, Greek mythology and the gods and goddesses at its core are a fundamental part of the popular imagination. At the heart of Greek mythology are exciting stories of drama, action, and adventure featuring gods and goddesses, who, while physically superior to humans, share many of their weaknesses. Readers will be introduced to the many figures once believed to populate Mount Olympus as well as related concepts and facts about the Greek mythological tradition.

Describes the origins of the most important Greek myths along with the personalities and special powers of the major Greek gods and goddesses.

Ancient peoples believed as firmly in their gods and goddesses as people believe in their religions today. These books help children understand how people lived in ancient times, what they believed, and why. How the seasons worked, why natural disasters happened and what happened to people when they died. Many of the myths have parallels in modern religions and culture. This title deals with the lives and beliefs of the people of Ancient Greece.

While the ancient Roman pantheon in many ways resembles that of ancient Greece, there is much that sets apart Roman mythology. Romans also borrowed from the religions of ancient Egypt, Asia Minor, and the Middle East, and legendary figures such as Romulus and Remus, tied closely to the history of Rome, feature prominently in ancient stories. The major and lesser figures of Roman mythology are presented in this vibrant volume with sidebars spotlighting related facts and concepts about Roman mythology and religion.

Many mythological traditions from around the world seek to explain the origins of the earth, human beings, and the forces of nature. This set examines the stories associated with gods and goddesses: their relationships with each other and with human beings; their faults, foibles, strengths, and special powers. It offers explanations of how the gods and goddesses gifted humans with life, water, fire, music, and dance. Nearly 220 essays detail gods and goddesses from around the globe: the Greek and Roman pantheon including Zeus, Neptune, Nike, and Aphrodite; Norse gods including Odin and Loki; Native American deities including Hunahpu and Xbalanque; and Egyptian gods and goddesses like Ra and Osiris.

Contrary to popular belief, the medieval religious imagination did not restrict itself to masculine images of God but envisaged the divine in multiple forms. In fact, the God of medieval Christendom was the Father of only one Son but many daughters—including Lady Philosophy, Lady Love, Dame Nature, and Eternal Wisdom. God and the Goddesses is a study in medieval imaginative theology, examining the numerous daughters of God who appear in allegorical poems, theological fictions, and the visions of holy women. We have tended to understand these deities as mere personifications and poetic figures, but that, Barbara Newman contends, is a mistake. These goddesses are neither pagan survivals nor versions of the Great Goddess constructed in archetypal psychology, but distinctive creations of the Christian imagination. As emanations of the Divine, mediators between God and the cosmos, embodied universals, and ravishing objects of identification and desire, medieval goddesses transformed and deepened Christendom's concept of God, introducing religious possibilities beyond the ambit of scholastic theology and bringing them to vibrant imaginative life. Building a bridge between secular and religious conceptions of allegorized female power, Newman advances such questions as whether medieval writers believed in their goddesses and, if so, in what manner. She investigates whether the personifications encountered in poetic fictions can be distinguished from those that appear in religious visions and questions how medieval writers reconcile their statements about the multiple daughters of God with orthodox devotion to the Son of God. Furthermore, she examines why forms of feminine God-talk that strike many Christians today as subversive or heretical did not threaten medieval churchmen. Weaving together such disparate texts as the writings of Latin and vernacular poets, medieval schoolmen, liturgists, and male and female mystics and visionaries, God and the Goddesses is a direct challenge to modern theologians to reconsider the role of goddesses in the Christian tradition.

In Goddess and God in the World, leading theologians Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow debate the nature of divinity, proposing a new method called embodied theology. They agree that the transcendent, omnipotent male God of traditional theology must be reimagined. Carol proposes that Goddess is the intelligent embodied love that is in all being. Judith counters that God is an impersonal power of creativity that includes both good and evil. Rooting their views in experience and questioning each other, they offer a fruitful model of theological conversation across difference.