Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the...

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Courtney J. P. Friesen (The University of Arizona, USA)

Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the Early Common Era

Courtney J. P. Friesen (The University of Arizona, USA)

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English

Routledge
19 December 2024

Church history; Judaism: sacred texts; Ancient religions & mythologies; Jewish studies

While many ancient Jewish and Christian leaders voiced opposition to Greek and Roman theater, this volume demonstrates that by the time the public performance of classical drama ceased at the end of antiquity the ideals of Jews and Christians had already been shaped by it in profound and lasting ways.

Readers are invited to explore how gods and heroes famous from Greek drama animated the imaginations of ancient individuals and communities as they articulated and reinvented their religious visions for a new era. In this study, Friesen demonstrates that Greek theater’s influence is evident within Jewish and Christian intellectual formulations, narrative constructions, and practices of ritual and liturgy. Through a series of interrelated case studies, the book examines how particular plays, through texts and performances, scenes, images, and heroic personae, retained appeal for Jewish and Christian communities across antiquity. The volume takes an interdisciplinary approach involving classical, Jewish, and Christian studies, and brings together these separate avenues of scholarship to produce fresh insights and a reevaluation of theatrical drama in relation to ancient Judaism and Christianity.

Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the Early Common Era allows students and scholars of the diverse and evolving religious landscapes of antiquity to gain fresh perspectives on the interplay between the gods and heroes—both human and divine—of Greeks and Romans, Jews and Christians as they were staged in drama and depicted in literature.

By: Courtney J. P. Friesen (The University of Arizona USA)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781032491035
ISBN 10: 1032491035
Pages: 166
Publication Date: 19 December 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

1. Theater and/as Ritual: Introduction to the State of the Question(s) and Scope of the Study; 2. A Tale of Two Cities’ Theaters: From Athens to Jerusalem; 3. The Drama of Debating Gods (and Their Existence): Lucian of Samosata and Philo of Alexandria on Creation and Providence; 4. Gods on Stage and Gods in Heaven: Fragments of Atheism in Sextus Empiricus and Pseudo-Justin; 5. Laughing at/with Heracles: Philo of Alexandria on Freedom and Virtue; 6. Atonement and Resurrection as the Denouement of Euripides’ Alcestis; 7. From Tragic Heroines to Religious Martyrs: The Afterlife of Polyxena between Philo and Clement of Alexandria; 8. Deus ex Machina: Concluding Thoughts on Dramatic Closure.

Courtney J. P. Friesen is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Classics at the University of Arizona where he teaches classical Greek and courses on the New Testament, early Christianity, and Greek and Roman culture. His first book, Reading Dionysus (2015), explored ancient receptions of Euripides’ Bacchae.

Reviews for Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the Early Common Era

""Friesen has very ably and convincingly illustrated a crucial component in the critical engagement of Judaism and Christianity with Hellenic culture. His book significantly contributes, furthermore, to a much larger ongoing scholarly conversation over the extent to which Jewish and Christian interpreters recognized dramatic elements even within scriptural revelation itself, such that the mimesis of drama depended not solely on exploiting the classical pagan masters but also imitating the biblical authors as they conveyed tragic and comic features in sacred history."" - Journal of Theological Studies ""[...] the book illustrates the more varied relationship between Jews, Christians, and the ancient stage. This is both a welcome scholarly contribution and a necessary foundation for further work into the implications of this complex and multifaceted relationship."" – Bryn Mawr Classical Review