R. Drew Griffith

"Homer presents a world-view in which death represents the end of consciousness and total annihilation of personhood. Yet in Odyssey, Book Four, he contradicts this by saying that one man at least will not die, but will be transported to Elysium, where he will have a blessed existence forever. In Mummy Wheat R. Drew Griffith argues that this shocking violation of Homer's normal world-view comes from Egypt, where more than anywhere else in the ancient world people firmly believed in life after death. This Egyptian view entered Homer deeply enough that traces of it can be found in many facets of his poetic language. Finally, Griffith argues, the Elysium idea did not die with Homer, but became enshrined in one of the most influential and long-lived religious traditions of Greece: the mysteries of Demeter at Eleusis outside of Athens."--BOOK JACKET.

Egyptian Influence on the Homeric View of the Afterlife and the Eleusinian Mysteries

Mummy Wheat

Robert B. Marks

Ancient Greece and Rome aren't usually remembered for their sense of humor. However, in reality the ancient Greeks and Romans often refused to take themselves seriously. The authors chronicle the more bizarre activities of the ancient world, venturing out as far as Egypt, Babylon, and Scandinavia, ranging everywhere from moochers to quacks to shrews to perhaps the oldest laundromat joke in history.

Ancient Greek and Roman Humour - 2nd Edition: Agora Harder!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Agora

Literary critics have consistently marginalized the role of Apollo in Sophocles' Oedipus the King: some declare him to be inscrutable, others ignore him, and still others deny his existence altogether. In defiance of this long-standing critical consensus, Drew Griffith offers a new interpretation of the play by arguing that Apollo brings about Oedipus' downfall as just punishment for his hubris.

R. Drew Griffith

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