DE HOMERO A LOS MAGOS

Estudio comparativo, integrador e interdisciplinar, de dos ámbitos culturales tradicionalmente inconexos–el griego y el oriental–, este libro recoge las conferencias que Walter Burkert dio en Venecia, en 1996, sobre un tema ya referencial para la historia de los estudios clásicos: la deuda de la civilización griega con la tradición oriental–mesopotámica, egipcia e irania–. Homero, las cosmogonías griegas, el orfismo y los Magos constituyen los temas fundamentales a partir de los que el autor traza, con clara voluntad sintética, las líneas maestras de una investigación innovadora y sugestiva.
Comentarios de la prensa

“Conviene subrayar el enorme atractivo actual del texto de Walter Burkert, para quien se interese por la tradición del pensamiento griego.”
Carlos García Gual, El País

“La visión enriquecedora y generosa de la especulación histórica en la búsqueda de un fondo multicultural mucho más complejo de lo que nos había llegado a través de los textos clásicos, convierte la lectura del libro en un reto inteligente.”

35. Babylon, Memphis, Persepolis : eastern contexts of Greek culture by Walter Burkert
published: 2004
format: 172 page hardcover
acquired: borrowed from my library
read: Jun 11-16
rating: 3 stars

The title is itself a decent concise summary. The book originated as four lectures in 1996. Burkert added a chapter on the alphabet, updated all the lectures, and added in numerous citations. The topics are fascinating, but the book is very difficult to read and sometimes hard to follow. And, it seemed to get more difficult as it went along.

So, I'm reduced to a book report. Sorry. Below is my attempt at some summaries, chapter-by-chapter. Some are really difficult to summarize. Read at your own risk.

Chapter 1 - Alphabetic Writing
Eastern letters had meaning. Alpha means "ox" and Beta means "house", etc. Greeks found the letters useful by themselves, so they borrowed them. But the letters make no sense in Greek, they are only sounds.

Chapter 2 - Orientalizing Features in Homer
The point of this chapter is that all these civilizations, from Persia to Greece to Egypt were all connected and sharing ideas. In Homer, the main eastern influence is in the gods. The scenes with the gods have many parallels with eastern stories and mythologies, going back to [Gilgamesh] and the Bablyonian [Enuma Elish].

Chapter 3 - Oriental Wisdom Literature and Cosmogony.
OK, bear with me and I'm just making a stab at this... The Persian empire, under Cyrus the Great, conquered Lydia in in 547 bce. This was the heart of the Anatolian Greeks, and it is also time equivalent with the documented Greek philosophical foundations. There must have been some kind of connection. Burkert argues there was regional connection in thought processes and that the Persian empire served as a catalyst, connecting people end-to-end along the Empire's kings road. Eastern cosmogony and wisdom has a lot of clear influence on Greek cosmogony and literature - namely on [[Hesiod]]. Greece proper was unique in that it was the most eastern non-conquered region (Egypt was conquered for a time). It was connected to the Persian areas, but maintained its freedom of thought in the key 6th and 5th century. This seems to have allowed this part of Greece to development their own, more modern philosophy - and our philosophical foundations. Hoping that all makes sense.

Chapter 4 - Orpheus and Egypt
This should have been the best chapter in the book. The information is wildly fascinating, but the actual content here is exhausting. And it's only about 30 pages. In sum, Osiris, Egyptian god of the dead connects with Dionysus, Greek god of wine, through the mysterious Orpheus cult. Confused yet?

The Orpheus mystery cult was widespread over a long period of time. But, it seems it was too secret, as all the key texts have been lost. So the discovery of the [Derveni] text was a bit deal. It was burned, but half the scroll was preserved. It's about the oldest text in existence, and, outside hints in writers such as Plato, and references to secret passwords here and there, it's about the only written thing we have got on the Orpheus cult. There is a whole lost world.

As for the details, well you can read the chapter. You will find lots about gods ejaculating all over the place. Seriously. That is an Egyptian and Ophean origin of our stars.

Chapter 5 - The Advent of the Magi
The Persian influence on ancient Greece, mainly as interpreted by tracing the word "magic". "Magi" is a Persian word from certain followers of Zoroastrianism. It's, of course, also the origin of our words "magic" and "Magi". Over time the word "magic" replaced the original Greek word for this meaning. By tracing the Greek use of this word, we can get a sense of the history of Persian influence on Greek culture.

2016
https://www.librarything.com/topic/220674#5625050

This book was only 125 pages (there abouts) and the chapters were like mini-essays regarding each of the title cities and how it compares to Greek civilization. It was because of this layout, that at times I felt confused and had to re-read certain parts just to understand the concepts he was trying to pose. I wouldn't recommend this for someone who is looking for something in layman's terms--I would recommend learning at least a general background before picking up this book, otherwise, "you" may get lost. ( )

This is a persuasive book, but an unsatisfying one. Burkert piles on scads of evidence for Greek cultural borrowings from Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia. His learning is truly extraordinary. (And, from personal experience, I can say he is a very nice man.) But the evidence is not crowned with much in the way of analysis—an answer to the question so?. It's not enough to list various correspondences others have denied or misinterpreted; you need to situate them within some larger understanding of Greek-non-Greek contact.

The conclusion reminds one of that composed by an undergraduate who, aware that papers need conclusions but without much to say in it, tacks on something both brief and platitudinous. ( )