This book examines one of the most intriguing figures in the religious life of the ancient Mediterranean world; the Phrygian Mother Goddess; known to the Greeks and Romans as Cybele or Magna Mater; the Great Mother. Her cult was particularly prominent in central Anatolia (modern Turkey); and spread from there through the Greek and Roman world. She was an enormously popular figure; attracting devotion from common people and potentates alike. This book is the first comprehensive assembly and discussion of the entire extant evidence concerning the worship of the Phrygian Mother Goddess; from her earliest appearance in the prehistoric record to the early centuries of the Roman Empire.Lynn E. Roller presents and analyzes literary; historiographic; and archaeological data with equal acuity and flair. While previous studies have tended to emphasize the more outrageous aspects of the Mother Goddess's cult; such as her orgiastic rituals and the eunuch priests who attended her; this book places a special focus on Cybele's position in Anatolia and the ways in which the identity of the goddess changed as her cult was transmitted to Greece and Rome. Roller gives a detailed account of the growth; spread; and evolution of her cult; her ceremonies; and her meaning for her adherents.This book will introduce students of Classical antiquity to many aspects of the Great Mother which have been previously unexamined; and will interest anyone who has ever been piqued by curiosity about the Mother Goddess of the ancient Western world.
#401870 in Books 1993-11-19Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .95 x 10.05 x 10.02l; #File Name: 0520080092396 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. The pictures are accurateBy Fire_PlaceI totally disagree with the authors of the last two reviews. I am an Iranian. I have visited LA and I have witnessed the tackiness that our people display in LA. I am not an anti-westerner but it is so unfortunate that we come to this country and some of us succumb to the plastic and the artificial side of the Western culture. I believe the book does accurately represent the Iranian people in LA. However; the book is not a representation of Iranians outside LA. Most Iranians living outside LA are pretty down to earth folks.Buy the book and see how not to lose yourself completely to the tacky elements of the western culture.Khodaa-Haafez3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A Little Dated But Still Worth A GanderBy Sohrob TahmasebiI think by now the book is a bit dated (most of the profiles in the book were done in the late 80s or early 90s it seems); but the overall description of the varied Iranian-American experience in LA is still fairly accurate. As a previous review mentioned; one should not assume that the description of Iranian-Americans in LA is representative of Iranian-Americans elsewhere in the U.S.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Great Candid Photographs!By A CustomerI bought "Irangeles" for the photographs; which capture that familiar culture that is seen in the Iranian communities of Los Angeles. You feel like you know everyone in the photos. It also does a good job describing Iranian traditions; customs; and how they have been morphed into the Southern California lifestyle.
