Suggested reading list

1. Walter Burkert: Comprehensive and immensely readable, Burkert explores Greek religion with a command of the primary texts, archeological data and modern theory.

• Greek Religion

• Ancient Mystery Cults

2. Karl Kerenyi: Although he was something of a Jungian, Kerenyi was one of the first classical scholars to reject hegemonic atheist discourse, and write of Greek religion as a religion.

• Gods of the Greeks

• Heroes of the Greeks

• Athena: Virgin and Mother in Greek Religion

• Dionysus: Archetypal Image of Indestructable Life

• Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter

3. Robert Garland: Excellent grasp of the way in which Greek religion impacted upon the life of the ancients.

• The Greek Way of Death

• The Greek Way of Life

4. Walter Otto: Otto's work, written in the early 20th century, is only coming to be appreciated now. There is no better source of Greek theology then his books.

• The Homeric Gods

• Dionysus: Myth and Cult

5. Sarah Iles Johnston: Cornell University's Professor in the Department of Greek and Latin, Johnston's books are informed and engaging.

• Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the
  Dead in Ancient Greece

6. E.R. Dodds: An older book, and a little dry, but well worth the read. It turns many modern presumptions about Hellenismos on their heads.

• The Greeks and the Irrational

8. Frederick Nietszche: His earliest work hinges on the distinctions between the Apollonian and the Dionysian, and is perhaps the deepest metaphysical account we have of the nature of Dionysus and the importance of myth, dance and art in modern life.

• The Birth of Tragedy

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