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The Cattle of the Sun : Cows and Culture in the World of the Ancient Greeks / Jeremy McInerney.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2010]Copyright date: ©2010Edition: Core TextbookDescription: 1 online resource (360 p.) : 10 halftones. 1 tableContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691140070
  • 9781400834877
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 636.20938 22
LOC classification:
  • SF196.G8 M38 2010eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- A Note about Spellings and Translations -- Abbreviations -- CHAPTER 1. Cattle Habits -- CHAPTER 2. The Paradoxes of Pastoralism -- CHAPTER 3. Cattle Systems in Bronze Age Greece -- CHAPTER 4. Epic Consumption -- CHAPTER 5. Heroes and Gods -- CHAPTER 6. Gods, Cattle, and Space -- CHAPTER 7. Sacred Economics -- CHAPTER 8. Cities and Cattle Business -- CHAPTER 9. Sacred Law -- CHAPTER 10. Authority and Value -- CHAPTER 11. Conclusions -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: Though Greece is traditionally seen as an agrarian society, cattle were essential to Greek communal life, through religious sacrifice and dietary consumption. Cattle were also pivotal in mythology: gods and heroes stole cattle, expected sacrifices of cattle, and punished those who failed to provide them. The Cattle of the Sun ranges over a wealth of sources, both textual and archaeological, to explore why these animals mattered to the Greeks, how they came to be a key element in Greek thought and behavior, and how the Greeks exploited the symbolic value of cattle as a way of structuring social and economic relations. Jeremy McInerney explains that cattle's importance began with domestication and pastoralism: cattle were nurtured, bred, killed, and eaten. Practically useful and symbolically potent, cattle became social capital to be exchanged, offered to the gods, or consumed collectively. This circulation of cattle wealth structured Greek society, since dedication to the gods, sacrifice, and feasting constituted the most basic institutions of Greek life. McInerney shows that cattle contributed to the growth of sanctuaries in the Greek city-states, as well as to changes in the economic practices of the Greeks, from the Iron Age through the classical period, as a monetized, market economy developed from an earlier economy of barter and exchange. Combining a broad theoretical approach with a careful reading of sources, The Cattle of the Sun illustrates the significant position that cattle held in the culture and experiences of the Greeks.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400834877

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- A Note about Spellings and Translations -- Abbreviations -- CHAPTER 1. Cattle Habits -- CHAPTER 2. The Paradoxes of Pastoralism -- CHAPTER 3. Cattle Systems in Bronze Age Greece -- CHAPTER 4. Epic Consumption -- CHAPTER 5. Heroes and Gods -- CHAPTER 6. Gods, Cattle, and Space -- CHAPTER 7. Sacred Economics -- CHAPTER 8. Cities and Cattle Business -- CHAPTER 9. Sacred Law -- CHAPTER 10. Authority and Value -- CHAPTER 11. Conclusions -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Though Greece is traditionally seen as an agrarian society, cattle were essential to Greek communal life, through religious sacrifice and dietary consumption. Cattle were also pivotal in mythology: gods and heroes stole cattle, expected sacrifices of cattle, and punished those who failed to provide them. The Cattle of the Sun ranges over a wealth of sources, both textual and archaeological, to explore why these animals mattered to the Greeks, how they came to be a key element in Greek thought and behavior, and how the Greeks exploited the symbolic value of cattle as a way of structuring social and economic relations. Jeremy McInerney explains that cattle's importance began with domestication and pastoralism: cattle were nurtured, bred, killed, and eaten. Practically useful and symbolically potent, cattle became social capital to be exchanged, offered to the gods, or consumed collectively. This circulation of cattle wealth structured Greek society, since dedication to the gods, sacrifice, and feasting constituted the most basic institutions of Greek life. McInerney shows that cattle contributed to the growth of sanctuaries in the Greek city-states, as well as to changes in the economic practices of the Greeks, from the Iron Age through the classical period, as a monetized, market economy developed from an earlier economy of barter and exchange. Combining a broad theoretical approach with a careful reading of sources, The Cattle of the Sun illustrates the significant position that cattle held in the culture and experiences of the Greeks.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2021)