Animals in Ancient Greek Religion will be of interest to students and scholars of Greek religion, Greek myth, and ancient religion more broadly, as well as for anyone interested in human/animal relations in the ancient world.

On Gods, Humans, and Animals Julia KindtPart 1: Perspectives1. The ‘Entanglement’ of Gods, Humans, and Animals in Ancient Greek Religion Jeremy McInerney2. Sources for the Study of Animals in Ancient Greek Religion Ingvild Sælid Gilhus3. Approaches: The Animal in the Study of Ancient Greek Religion Emily KearnsPart 2: Representations4. Gods and Heroes, Humans and Animals in Ancient Greek Myth Hannah Willey5. The Theriomorphism of the Major Greek Gods Jan Bremmer6. Greek Anthropomorphism vs. Egyptian Zoomorphism: Conceptual Considerations in Greek Thought and Literature Julia Kindt7. Philosophers on Animals in Ancient Greek Religion James Henderson Collins IIPart 3: Beliefs and Practices8. Caloric Codes: Ancient Greek Animal Sacrifice Fritz Graf9. Animals in Ancient Greek Divination: Oracles, Predictions, and Omens Julia Kindt10. Animals in Ancient Greek Dedications Milette Gaifman11. Animals in Asclepian Medicine: Myth, Cult, and Miracle Healings Florian Steger and Frank Ursin12. Circe’s Ram: Animals in Ancient Greek Magic Korshi DosooGods, Humans, and Animals Revisited Julia Kindt

The editor does an excellent job of framing the whole with a separate introduction and a concluding chapter, and the opening three chapters by McInerney, Gilhus, and Kearns are suggested reading for those new to ancient animal studies, religious or otherwise. Together these contributions offer sensible historiography and valuable bibliography and establish several recurring themes: the entanglement of human, animal, and supernatural; the diversity and place of animals in religious thought and cult; the evolving nature of ancient Greek religion. Although blood sacrifice has long been the focus of animals in Greek religion, this book gently prods us to reconsider its centrality. The non-Greek comparisons with the ancient Near East and Egypt, and with modern India, may especially appeal to some readers.Tyler Jo Smith, University of Virginia, Religious Studies ReviewThis volume provides great insight and a range of stimulating papers focused around a topic of great interest. The diversity of approaches and materials and the interesting nature of the case studies analysed considerably enrich our knowledge of and reflections on animals across the full spectrum of ancient Greek religious beliefs and practices.Bruno D'Andrea, ARYS: Antiquity, Religions and Societies