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Author McInerney, Jeremy, 1958-

Title The cattle of the sun : cows and culture in the world of the ancient Greeks / Jeremy McInerney.

Publication Info. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2010]
©2010

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xvii, 340 pages) : illustrations
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Note Includes selections translated from the Ancient Greek.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-334) and index.
Contents Cattle habits -- The paradoxes of pastoralism -- Cattle systems in Bronze Age Greece -- Epic consumption -- Heroes and gods -- Gods, cattle, and space -- Sacred economics -- Cities and cattle business -- Sacred law -- Authority and value -- Conclusions.
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.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Cattle -- Greece -- History.
Cattle.
Greece.
History.
Pastoral systems -- Greece -- History.
Pastoral systems.
Cattle -- Greece -- Religious aspects -- History.
Animal sacrifice -- Greece -- History.
Animal sacrifice.
Fasts and feasts -- Greece -- History.
Fasts and feasts.
Cattle trade -- Greece -- History.
Cattle trade.
Greece -- History -- To 146 B.C.
Chronological Term To 146 B.C
Subject Greece -- Religious life and customs.
Greece -- Economic conditions -- To 146 B.C.
Economic conditions.
National characteristics, Greek -- History.
National characteristics, Greek.
Chronological Term To 146 B.C.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
History.
Added Title Cows and culture in the world of the ancient Greeks
Other Form: Print version: McInerney, Jeremy, 1958- Cattle of the sun. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©2010 9780691140070 (DLC) 2009039945 (OCoLC)449283987
ISBN 9781400834877 (electronic book)
1400834872 (electronic book)
9780691140070 (hardcover ; alkaline paper)
0691140073 (hardcover ; alkaline paper)
1282607502
9781282607507
Standard No. 9786612607509