Technologies of the Marvellous in Ancient Greek Religion

For the first time investigates the ways that technological, and especially mechanical, strategies were integrated into ancient Greek religion. Presents in full the evidence from the fifth century BCE to the second century CE, thereby revealing the shifting matrices of agency between technical objects, mechanical knowledge, gods, and mortals.

List of contents

Introduction; Part I. Greek Tragedy and Mechanical Epiphany: 1. Viewing the m¿chan¿; 2. Visual representations of the gods in tragedy; 3. Theos apo m¿chan¿s; Part II. Technologies and Ritual Experience; 4. Technical divination and mechanics of sacred space; 5. Dedicated inventions; 6. Pompai and the mechanics of sacred occasion; Part III. Faking the Gods; 7. In the hands of frauds; 8. Theomimesis-theomachy.

About the author

TATIANA BUR held the Moses and Mary Finley Research Fellowship at Darwin College, Cambridge before joining the Australian National University as Lecturer in Classics. She is the recipient of the Cambridge University Hare Prize in Classics, and co-editor of Technological Animation in Classical Antiquity (2024).

Product details

• Authors: Tatiana Bur, Tatiana (Australian National University Bur
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.06.2025
• EAN: 9781009331685
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0933168-5
• No. of pages: 322
• Series: Cambridge Classical Studies
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity; HISTORY / Ancient / General, Ancient Greece, History of Religion, Ancient Greek religion & mythology, Ancient History, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, Ancient Greek religion and mythology, c 1000 BCE to start of CE period, BCE to c 500 CE, c 1 to c 500 CE