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The Greeks and the Irrational is a 1951 book by Eric Robertson Dodds, an Irish classical scholar. The book challenged popular notions of the Greeks being wholly logical, citing a wide variety of cultural evidence. Dodds was a former Regius professor of Greek, and his book earned him praise for its novel analysis.
Source: OMNIKA
"In this philosophy classic, which was first published in 1951, E. R. Dodds takes on the traditional view of Greek culture as a triumph of rationalism. Using the analytical tools of modern anthropology and psychology, Dodds asks, "Why should we attribute to the ancient Greeks an immunity from 'primitive' modes of thought which we do not find in any society open to our direct observation?" Praised by reviewers as "an event in modern Greek scholarship" and "a book which it would be difficult to over-praise," The Greeks and the Irrational was Volume 25 of the Sather Classical Lectures series."
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Myth
Achilles, half man-half deity, fought in the Trojan war for King Agamemnon and quarreled with him over a mistress, among other things. The war featured the Trojans against the Greeks and had lots of action where Achilles was the star. Achilles' close friend Patroclus died at the hands of Hector; consequently, Achilles slaughtered him in order to get his revenge. While not listed in the Iliad, sources say that Achilles suffered his tragic fate at the end of the war by Paris when he was shot with an arrow through the achilles heel. Achilles fulfilled the hero motif of living a short life of glory.
Belief system
The ancient Greek belief system represents a collection of cultural myths and stories that date back to circa 1300-1200 BCE. Its pantheon of deities were widely known and written about in Greek texts. The Romans...
Deity
Achilles (Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς) was a Trojan war hero who was half man, half deity. Achilles is best known for his fighting skills during the Trojan war where he slayed Hector.
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ChicagoDodds, Eric R. The Greeks and the Irrational. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1951.