In this article, I address the 'old' question of the 'dying god'. James G. Frazer's famous and neglected category is currently considered wrong and outdated and, therefore, not even studied anymore. Through the presentation of the critical positions of Jonathan Z. Smith, I discuss the case of Dionysus, Baal and Inanna/Ishtar. Although they have received little attention (as studies which depart from the dominant critical current generally have), they prove that Frazer's intuition is not enterely wrong and that there is still much material to explore.

Rethinking Frazer's Dying Gods: New Perspectives on the Death and Resurrection Pattern in Ancient Mediterranean Myths

Paola Corrente
2022

Abstract

In this article, I address the 'old' question of the 'dying god'. James G. Frazer's famous and neglected category is currently considered wrong and outdated and, therefore, not even studied anymore. Through the presentation of the critical positions of Jonathan Z. Smith, I discuss the case of Dionysus, Baal and Inanna/Ishtar. Although they have received little attention (as studies which depart from the dominant critical current generally have), they prove that Frazer's intuition is not enterely wrong and that there is still much material to explore.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/4827753
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact