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9781138328587

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This remarkable book undertakes to show that Greek myths were available to the writers of the Hebrew Bible and of the New Testament to serve both as models and as foils for their own religious purposes, just as John Milton adapted classical myths to make them fit Satan. Louden brings to light quite unexpected congruences from Homer to Euripides and shows repeatedly how old polytheistic stories could be reshaped as Biblical narratives about a single god, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. Our picture of the complex dialog between Judaeo-Christian and pagan literature will never be quite the same. - Richard Janko, University of Michigan, USA I thoroughly enjoyed reading Greek Myth and the Bible and am impressed by its detailed and highly original arguments. It never occurred to me that stories in the Old and especially New Testaments bore so many similarities to Greek and Roman myths. While skeptics like me might be unwilling to see direct influence of Greek and Roman texts on the scriptural writers, Old and New, Louden has demonstrated, and remarkably so, that stories in both traditions have been shaped by earlier strata of traditional tales and in ways that allow for a monotheistic faith. - James J. Clauss, University of Washington, USA, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2019 This is an extraordinary book that has much to tell us both about Greek myth and legend and their reappearances in different guises throughout biblical narratives ... Louden's book is a revelation and allows us to view biblical stories in new ways. - Robert J. Rabel, University of Kentucky, USA, Classical Journal 2020

This remarkable book undertakes to show that Greek myths were available to the writers of the Hebrew Bible and of the New Testament to serve both as models and as foils for their own religious purposes, just as John Milton adapted classical myths to make them fit Satan. Louden brings to light quite unexpected congruences from Homer to Euripides and shows repeatedly how old polytheistic stories could be reshaped as Biblical narratives about a single god, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. Our picture of the complex dialog between Judaeo-Christian and pagan literature will never be quite the same. - Richard Janko, University of Michigan, USA I thoroughly enjoyed reading Greek Myth and the Bible and am impressed by its detailed and highly original arguments. It never occurred to me that stories in the Old and especially New Testaments bore so many similarities to Greek and Roman myths. While skeptics like me might be unwilling to see direct influence of Greek and Roman texts on the scriptural writers, Old and New, Louden has demonstrated, and remarkably so, that stories in both traditions have been shaped by earlier strata of traditional tales and in ways that allow for a monotheistic faith. - James J. Clauss, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

This remarkable book undertakes to show that Greek myths were available to the writers of the Hebrew Bible and of the New Testament to serve both as models and as foils for their own religious purposes, just as John Milton adapted classical myths to make them fit Satan. Louden brings to light quite unexpected congruences from Homer to Euripides and shows repeatedly how old polytheistic stories could be reshaped as Biblical narratives about a single god, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. Our picture of the complex dialog between Judaeo-Christian and pagan literature will never be quite the same. - Richard Janko, University of Michigan, USA

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Bruce Louden is Professor in the Department of Language and Linguistics, the Humanities Program, and Philosophy, at the University of Texas at El Paso, USA.

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