The Folds of Olympus : : Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman Culture / / Jason König.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English
• VerfasserIn: König, Jason,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (480 p.) :; 27 b/w illus. 1 map.

A cultural and literary history of mountains in classical antiquityThe mountainous character of the Mediterranean was a crucial factor in the history of the ancient Greek and Roman world. The Folds of Olympus is a cultural and literary history that explores the important role mountains played in Greek and Roman religious, military, and economic life, as well as in the identity of communities over a millennium—from Homer to the early Christian saints. Aimed at readers of ancient history and literature as well as those interested in mountains and the environment, the book offers a powerful account of the landscape at the heart of much Greek and Roman culture.Jason König charts the importance of mountains in religion and pilgrimage, the aesthetic vision of mountains in art and literature, the place of mountains in conquest and warfare, and representations of mountain life. He shows how mountains were central to the way in which the inhabitants of the ancient Mediterranean understood the boundaries between the divine and the human, and the limits of human knowledge and control. He also argues that there is more continuity than normally assumed between ancient descriptions of mountains and modern accounts of the picturesque and the sublime.Offering a unique perspective on the history of classical culture, The Folds of Olympus is also a resoundingly original contribution to the literature on mountains.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Map -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Part I. Mountains and the divine -- 1 Summit Altars -- 2 Mountains in Archaic Greek Poetry -- 3 Pausanias: Mythical Landscapes and Divine Presence -- 4 Egeria on Mount Sinai: Mountain Pilgrimage in Early Christian and Late Antique Culture -- Part II. Mountain Vision -- 5 Mountain Aesthetics -- 6 Scientific Viewing and the Volcanic Sublime -- 7 Mountains in Greek and Roman Art -- 8 Mountain Landmarks in Latin Literature -- 9 Mountains and Bodies in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses -- Part III. Mountain Conquest -- 10 Warfare and Knowledge in Mountain Territories -- 11 Mountain Narratives in Greek and Roman Historiography -- 12 Strabo: Civilising the Mountains -- 13 Ammianus Marcellinus: Mountain Peoples and Imperial Boundaries -- Part IV. Living in the mountains -- 14 Mountain and City -- 15 Dio Chrysostom and the Mountains of Euboia -- 16 Mountain Saints in Late Antique Christian Literature -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index Locorum -- General Index -- A note on the type