First, let's make clear what Burkert does NOT say. This book does not argue that the Greeks are an offshoot of some middle eastern civilization, or that Greek genius was merely a late and relocated flowering of Egyptian or some other oriental genius. Burkert in no way detracts from the greatness and the uniqueness of the Greeks.

What he does is remove them from their isolation. He does this by showing a number of points where the Greeks, in the early Archaic Age, borrowed from the cultures around them or at least shared common beliefs or practices.

The book is divided into three chapters, each organized around a class of people through whom East-West contacts occurred: craftsmen, seers / healers (workers in the sacred), and poets / singers. Burkert in each chapter reviews archaeological, literary and philological evidence for cultural contacts or "continuum". And the evidence is not overwhelming, but it is considerable.

The achievement of _The Orientalizing Revolution_ is not to knock the Greeks off their pedestal. It is to help us better understand the Greeks, by seeing some aspects of their culture in a broader light and by teaching us to apply insights from other lands and peoples to the Greeks. This makes Burkert a worthy heir to Jane Ellen Harrison, for instance, and well worth reading.

This is a great book. Due to a number of trends in scholarshipon ancient history over the last two or three hundred years, thehistory of ancient Greece has been grossly distorted. The Near Eastern origin of much of the culture of ancient Greece was a recognized reality in ancient times. Until modern times, the foreign origin of ancient Greece according to ancient sources continued to be acknowledged, but that trend changed with the advent of the European nationalistic tendencies of the eighteenth century, which began increasingly to highlight Greece as the "cradle of civilization."

However, over the last sixty years, these prejudices have undergone a barrage of new findings. It appears that the ancient sources were correct. Walter Burkert, one of the foremost scholars of this century on the culture and religion of ancient Greece, examines the process by which Greece came to be imparted, in fact inundated, with Near Eastern cultural elements. Burkert's is now one of several books which should transform of conception of Greek civilization. I would also recommend the more detailed "The East Face of Helicon" by M. L. West, and "Alien Wisdom" by Arnoldo Momigliano...

Burkert's Greek Religion is the perfect handbook for any serious student of archaic and classical Greek religion. Burkert is a thorough scholar, and treats the diverse and complex problem of Greek religion from its Minoan-Mycenaean precursors through the esoteric Mysteries. Burkert cleanly and succinctly addresses Greek ritual practices and provides accurate and enlightening
definitions of the mainstays of Greek religion - from temple (naos) to cult image (xaonon) to the gods themselves. Burkert's text is an invaluable resource no student of classical studies should be without.

...BR>I have had many books on the Hellenic Religion, but none struck me as Walter Burkert's book Greek Religion has. Burkert is not afraid to let his readers know that there is not much information on Ancient Greek practices. He explores the religion, telling what is fact, and what was possible. His book, and the book Old Stones, New Temples, are great starter books for anyone considering practicing Hellenic Religion. Unlike other Pagan associated books, Burkert has a huge bibliography of resources for where his information comes from. Though he does quote from within his network, as many Pagan authors do, he also draws from other sources. This is definately one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is one of my top recommended buys...

While the market for Mythology is flooded by books describing Greek Myth (with many excellent versions), too many have been reduced to neo-pagan re-usage, forcing the myths onto a modern metaphor. All too often, books cut and paste the myths into a new age ideal that melts Taosism, Buddhism, American SHamanism into a nasty blend devoid of any of the specific flavorings of any of these rich traditions.

Burkett's book doesn't d othis. If you want to know how the Ancient Greeks PRACTICED religion, this is a great book, filled with fantastic detail. Burkett is neither a Frazer/Campbell Synthesist, nor a true Levi-Strauss Structuralist. Like the latter group, he delves into the details, discussing how the individual greek cities and cults practiced their religion.

By the time the book is complete, the reader has a crystal clear picture of the everyday spiritual life of an ancient greek citizen, from the archaic to the philosophical (even the the curses and phrases).

More than that, the book gives a clear definition of what a Polytheistic system of beliefs is like.

I definite part of any student of Greek History or General Mythology and Religion.

Walter Burkert is one of the greatest scholars of the twentieth century in the field of ancient Greek religion, and this contribution is an excellent book which, for the most part, lives up to such a standard. I recommend it to any and all students of Greek religion who are looking to expand their knowledge of the particulars of mystery cults and what they were all about. I do, however, have reservations about recommending it as an overview or introductory work for laymen or students just getting interested in the subject. Burkert's methodology, while a great improvement over the "myth and ritual" debates which dominated earlier scholarship, is very much oriented in a psychological viewpoint which sees ancient mystery religion as somehow fundamentally less psychologically satisfying than religions like Christianity ("confessional" religions). In every chapter he tries to make the point that these cults were nothing like early confessional religions like Christianity because he is responding to another faction of scholars who tried to assimilate the two, but, unfortunately, in doing so Burkert makes a number of misleading (and, some would say, wrong) arguments about the nature of mystery religion and the mentality of its devotees. It is for these reasons that I recommend this book highly to someone who already knows enough to recognize when Burkert is making controversial statements and would not take him at face value.

I recommend this book as an introduction for everybody who is interested in this daunting subject. Daunting, because it was forbidden for the initiated to speak about the mystery. Nearly everything we know (besides artwork - Athens - architectural sites) came to us indirectly (e.g. the formidable play 'Bakchai' by Euripides).
Furthermore, all sanctuaries were destroyed after the imperial decrees (391/392) of Theodosius the Great prohibiting all pagan cults.
The author analyses 5 mystery cults : Eleusis, Meter, Isis, Mithras, and the Dionysian and Bacchian mysteries.
As we can learn from the work of Karl Kerenyi, the influence of Eleusis on Christianity should not be underestimated. Apparently, through the myth of Demeter/Persephone, the initiated were 'shown' that there was life after death. Plato was initiated (as nearly all Roman emperors) and as Hannah Ahrendt tells us in her book 'The origins of Totalitarianism', Plato must be considered as one of the fathers of the Christian creed.
For the mysteries of Mithras, I recommend the work of J. Vermaseren.

As Burkert states, most of the mysteries were expensive clubs and the experience was purely individual. That is the reason why they disappeared so rapidly: they lacked any lasting organization as the Christian Church. Another reason for Burkert was the inclusion of the family as the basic unit of piety in Christianity. The Church got the upper hand for demographic reasons.
Contrary to Burkert, we know from the work of Kerenyi on Eleusis that the taking of drugs (the kykeon) was important (it was taken after a longer period of fasting).
Burkert gives us a very good summary indeed.

Burkert is a great scholar, and I strongly recommend his book "Greek Religion." However, in this book he tries to tie his encyclopedic knowledge of classical cultures to his knowledge of biology (animal behavior), psychology and anthropology. This is an ambitious project, and appropriately, he attempted it for the Gifford Lectures, dedicated to "natural theology in the widest sense." He is all the more brave for attempting such a synthesis when structural descriptions of religion are out of style.

However, most of Burkert's connections are too loose to feel convincing. He piles on loads of examples from primarily classical and Near Eastern cultures--neglecting altogether China and India, and most other cultures--but they do not really come together to form a theory or even a series of compelling insights.

It was a noble attempt, and he remains a titan in classical studies, and I recommend "Greek Religion" wholeheartedly. Read that before you read this, at least because it will help you understand this one. But consider books by Max Weber, Claude Levi-Strauss, Mircea Eliade, Rudolf Otto.

Burkert has assembled the rituals, myths, and outlook of a global retinue of religions to demonstrate the universality of human approaches to the unknown. An amazing range of cultures have developed nearly identical attitudes and practices in coping with the mysteries of life. Where did this universality originate? Burkert sees its roots in the deep time of pre- literate humanity. He makes this connection loosely, but the connection is surely there. Loss of body parts by trapped or threatened animals becomes ritual sacrifice in humans. Social hierarchy in primates becomes kneeling before an altar with downcast eyes, submitting to some superior entity. These habits, practiced over endless generations have almost certainly become entrenched in the genetic messages making up each of us. There might just be a gene for religion by now, although Burkert avoids such a radical assertion. The logic behind his contentions clamors for acceptance; the validity of Burkert's assertions too thoroughly supported to contest. In Burkert's

Although there are other books on comparative elements in religion, few have drawn the picture so clearly; none have reached into such our distant past in seeking origins of religious practices. He assembles a wealth of supportive material, much of it European in origin. Historically, European religious attitudes have anticipated those in North America; Ernest Renan in France, for example, preceded Robert Ingersoll in America. Burkert, however, has confined himself too much in reviewing his sources in compiling this book. His studies have stopped at the water's edge by ignoring two decades of development of Richard Dawkins' suggestion that cultural elements, such as religion, are the result of the memes.

While Burkert superbly describes the universal aspects of religious practice, he fails to present us with the reasons for its persistence. In the most literate age in human history, why does a concept as illogical as 'god' continue to draw on such a wealth of human time and resources? The science of memetics, which bases its theory on replication and dissemination in imitation of genetic methods, would have been the fulfilling conclusion to Burkert's otherwise flawless analysis of religion's survival. His conclusion argues that 'direct imprinting of parental attitudes, nor arbitrary transfer of information [by which we assume 'not traceable] can account for it['s success]'. Yet these two mechanisms are precisely the way memes, cultural principles transmitted over generations, works. You need not go all the way to the end of the book; simply review the opening chapter and use 'meme' to account for each of the factors Burkert lists in the inventory of topics he further develops. Not one eludes the definition of how a meme functions.

This lack of addressing a concept that has been with us for a generation doesn't flaw this book, it merely renders it incomplete. Read Burkert closely for he has much to say and says it well. Then go pick up Susan Blackmore's THE MEME MACHINE for the complete picture. The pair will complete any library's collection of religious studies. Only someone bringing these two concepts together will further add to your thinking on 'why we believe'.

This is an excellent work (by a respected author) which boldly tackles the task of presenting a clear and coherent explanation for the practice of sacrifice in religions. Mr. Burkert both enhances the reader's understanding of the practice of sacrifice, and dispels many foolish romantic views of ancient religions.

I want to read this book ,Please

Extremely important work in understanding classical mythology.