1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996209684603316

Autore

Ustinova Yulia

Titolo

Caves and the ancient Greek mind [[electronic resource] ] : descending underground in the search for ultimate truth / / Yulia Ustinova

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oxford, : Oxford University Press, c2009

ISBN

1-281-97879-5

9786611978792

0-19-156342-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (328 p.)

Disciplina

180

Soggetti

Caves - Greece - Religious aspects

Divination - Greece

Oracles, Greek

Philosophy, Ancient

Mysticism - Greece

Psychology, Religious

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-301) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Cave Experiences and the Human Mind; 2. Oracles and Caves; 3. Seers and Poets; 4. Sages and Philosophers; 5. Near-Death Experiences, Real and Make-Believe; Retrospect; Bibliography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind analyses techniques of searching for ultimate wisdom in ancient Greece. The Greeks perceived mental experiences of exceptional intensity as resulting from divine intervention. They believed that to share in the immortals' knowledge, one had to liberate the soul from the burden of the mortal body by attaining an altered state of consciousness, that is, by merging with a superhuman being or through possession by a deity. These states wereoften attained by inspired mediums, `impresarios of the gods' - prophets, poets, and sages - who descended into caves or underg