What is Euhemerism?
A Brief History of Research and Some Persisting Questions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v43i2.30Keywords:
Euhemerism, Divine Kingship, Graeco-Roman World, Deification, Theory of Religion, Early ChristianityAbstract
The third century BCE Greek writer Euhemerus of Messene composed a utopian travel narrative entitled Sacred Inscription where he articulated a theory, known as euhemerism, regarding the origin of religion. The theory maintained that all Olympian gods were deified prominent kings and later scholars made use of it as a justification of divine kingship in the Graeco-Roman world. Euhemerism managed to survive in the early Christian era as a theory that represents the falsity of the gods of the pagans. From a theory of myth to a theory of religion and from a less important element of Euhemerus’ utopian narrative to mere historiography, euhemerism has managed to preserve itself in scholarly discussions without the existence of a comprehensive examination of the theory from a religious studies perspective and the way it was used in later periods. Based on the various and divergent usages and applications of euhemerism both in historical studies and in theoretical discussions on religion, the question remains: What is euhemerism?
References
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--------.1996. “Euhemerus’ Eternal Gods; or, How Not To Be Embarrassed by Greek Mythology.” In Classical Studies in Honor of David Sohlberg, edited by Ranon Katzoff, Yaakov Petroff, and David Schaps, 91-103. Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press.
Baumgarten, Roland 2004. “Review of M. Winiarczyk, Euhemeros von Messene: Leben, Werk und Nachwirkung.” Gnomon 76.3: 237–40.
Bolle, Kees W. 1970. “In Defence of Euhemerus.” In Myth and Law Among the Indo-Europeans, edited by Jaan Puhvel, 19-38. Berkeley: University of California Press.
--------. 2005. “Euhemerus and Euhemerism.” In Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd edition), edited by Lindsay Jones, vol. 5, 2882-4. New York: Thompson.
Bremmer, Jan N. 2007. “Atheism in Antiquity.” In The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin, 11-26. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brisson, Luc. 2004. How Philosophers Saved Myths. Allegorical Interpretation and Classical Mythology. Translated by C. Tihanyi. Chicago – London: University of Chicago Press.
Brown, Truesdell S. 1946. “Euhemerus and the Historians.” Harvard Theological Review 39.4: 259-74.
Brown, W. E. 1955. “Some Hellenistic Utopias.” Classical Weekly 48.5: 57-62.
Clay, Diskin, and Andrea Purvis. 1999. Four Island Utopias. Newburyport, Mass.: Focus.
De Angelis, Franco, and Benjamin Garstad. 2006. “Euhemerus in Context.” Classical Antiquity 25.2: 211-42.
De Block, Raymond. 1876. Euhemere: son Livre et sa Doctrine. Diss. Universität Lüttich: Mons.
Decharme, Paul. 1904. La Critique des Traditions Religieuses chez les Grecs des Origines au Temps de Plutarque. Paris: A. Picard.
Dochhorn, Jan. 2000. “Ein ‘Inschriftenfund’ auf Panchaia: Zur ???? ???????? des Euhemeros von Messene.” In Internationales Josephus-Kolloquium Aarhus 1999, edited by Jürgen U. Kalms, 265-97. Münster: LIT.
Dowden, Ken. 2006. Zeus (Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece). London – New York: Routledge.
Drachmann, Anders B. 1922. Atheism in Pagan Antiquity. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
Ferguson, John. 1975. Utopias of the Classical World. London: Thames and Hudson.
Frazer, Peter M. 1972. Ptolemaic Alexandria. Vols. I-II. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Futre Pinheiro, Marilia P. 2006. “Utopia and Utopias: A Study on a Literary Genre in Antiquity.” In Authors, Authority, and Interpreters in the Ancient Novel. Essays in Honor of Gareth L. Schmeling, edited by Shannon N. Byrne, Edmund P. Cueva, and Jean Alvares, 147-71. Groningen: Barkhuis.
Gallagher, Philip J. 1978. “Milton and Euhemerism: Paradise Lost X. 578-584.” Milton Quarterly 12.1: 16-23.
Gamble, Harry Y. 1979. “Euhemerism and Christology in Origen: ‘Contra Celsum’ III 22-43.” Vigiliae Christianae 33.1: 12-29.
Garstad, Benjamin. 2003. “Review of M. Winiarczyk, Euhemeros von Messene: Leben, Werk und Nachwirkung.” Classical Review 53.2: 309–11.
--------. 2004. “Belus in the Sacred History of Euhemerus.” Classical Philology 99: 246-57.
Griffiths, J. G. 1970. Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Harding, Nick. 2007. How to Be a Good Atheist. Harpenden: Oldcastle Books.
Henrichs, Albert. 1975. “Two Doxographical Notes: Democritus and Prodicus on Religion.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 79: 93-123.
--------. 1984. “The Sophists and Hellenistic Religion: Prodicus as the Spiritual Father of the Isis Aretalogies.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 88: 139-58.
Holzberg, Niklas. 2003. “Utopias and Fantastic Travel: Euhemerus, Iambulus.” In The Novel in the Ancient World, edited by Gareth L. Schmeling, 621-28. Leiden: Brill.
Honigman, Sylvie. 2009. “Euhemerus of Messene and Plato’s Atlantis.” Historia 58.1: 1-35.
Jacoby, Felix. 1923. Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker. Vols. I-III. Leiden-Berlin: Brill.
--------. 1907. s.v. Euhemeros. RE 6.1, cols. 952-72.
Kokolakis, Minos. 1995. “Zeus’ Tomb. An Object of Pride and Reproach.” Kernos 8: 123-38.
Langer, Carl. 1926. “Euhemerus und die Theorie der ????? und ????? ????.” Angelos 2: 53-9.
Luraghi, Nino. 2008. The Ancient Messenians. Constructions of Ethnicity and Memory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MacFarlane, Katherine N. 1980. “Isidore of Seville on the Pagan Gods (Origines VIII. 11).” Transactions of the American Philological Society 70.3: 1-40.
Manuel, Frank E. and Fritzie P. Manuel. 1979. Utopian Thought in the Western World. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Müller, Roland J. 1993. “Überlegungen zur ???? ???????? des Euhemeros von Messene.” Hermes 121: 276–300.
Némethy, Géza. 2010 [1889]. Euhemeri Reliquiae: Collegit, Prolegomenis Et Adnotationibus Instruxit. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing.
Pachis, Panayotis. 2010. “The Discourse of a Myth: Diodorus Siculus and the Egyptian Theologoumena During the Hellenistic Age.” In Chasing Down Religion: In the Sights of History and the Cognitive Sciences. Essays in Honor of Luther H. Martin, edited by Panayotis Pachis and Donald Wiebe, 303-36. Thessaloniki: Barbounakis.
Prent, Mieke. 2005. Cretan Sanctuaries and Cults. Continuity and Change from Late Minoan IIIC to the Archaic Period (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 154). Leiden – Boston: Brill.
Roubekas, Nickolas P. 2010. “From the Indian Ocean to Alexandria: Euhemerus of Messene and the Origin of the Gods.” In Proceedings of the First Hellenistic Studies Workshop, edited by Kyriakos Savvopoulos, 18-35. Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
--------. 2011. ??????????? ???? ?????: ???????? – ????? – ??????? ???? ??????? ??? ????????. Thessaloniki: Vanias.
--------. 2012a. “Post Mortem Makes a Difference: On a Redescription of Euhemerism and its Place in the Study of Graeco-Roman Divine Kingship.” Religion & Theology 19.3-4: 319-39.
--------. 2012b. “Which Euhemerism will you use? Celsus on the Divine Nature of Jesus.” Journal of Early Christian History 2.2: 80-96.
Schippers, J. W. 1952. De Ontwikkeling der Euhemeristische Godencritiek in de Christelijke Latijnse Literatuur. Groningen: J. B. Wolters.
Seznec, Jean. 1953. The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art. Translated by B. F. Sessions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Spyridakis, Stylianos. 1968. “Zeus is Dead: Euhemerus and Crete.” The Classical Journal 63.8: 337-40.
Susemihl, Franz. 1891. Geschichte der Griechischen Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.
Thraede, Klaus. 1965. “Euhemerismus.” Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum 6: sp. 877-890.
Van den Meer, Herman F. 1949. Euhemerus van Messene. Diss. Universität Amsterdam.
Vallauri, Giovanna. 1956. Euemero di Messene. Testimonianze e frammenti (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia VIII, 3). Torino: Università di Torino.
--------. 1960. Origine e Diffusione dell’ Evemerismo nel Pensiero Classico (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia XII, 5). Torino: Università di Torino.
Winiarczyk, Marek. 1984. “Wer Galt im Altertum als Atheist?” Philologus 128.2: 157-83.
--------. 1991. Euhemeri Messenii Reliquiae. Stuttgart-Leipzig: Teubner.
------. 1996. “Ennius’ “Euhemerus Sine Sacra Historia.” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 137.3-4: 274-91.
--------. 2002. Euhemeros von Messene: Leben, Werk und Nachwirkung. München –Leipzig: K. G. Saur
= 2013. The Sacred History of Euhemerus of Messene. Translated by Witold Zbirohowski-Ko?cia. Berlin – Boston: De Gruyter.
--------. 2011. Die Hellenistischen Utopien. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Winston, David. 1979. The Wisdom of Solomon. New York: Doubleday.
Zucker, F. 1905. “Euhemerus und Seine ???? ???????? bei den Christlichen Schriftstellern.” Philologus: Zeitschrift für klassische Philologie 64: 465-71.
Zumschlinge, Marianne. 1976. Euhemerus: Staatstheoretische und Staatutopische Motive. Diss. Universität Bonn.
Baumgarten, Albert I. 1981. The Phoenician History of Philo of Byblos. A Commentary. Leiden: Brill.
--------.1996. “Euhemerus’ Eternal Gods; or, How Not To Be Embarrassed by Greek Mythology.” In Classical Studies in Honor of David Sohlberg, edited by Ranon Katzoff, Yaakov Petroff, and David Schaps, 91-103. Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press.
Baumgarten, Roland 2004. “Review of M. Winiarczyk, Euhemeros von Messene: Leben, Werk und Nachwirkung.” Gnomon 76.3: 237–40.
Bolle, Kees W. 1970. “In Defence of Euhemerus.” In Myth and Law Among the Indo-Europeans, edited by Jaan Puhvel, 19-38. Berkeley: University of California Press.
--------. 2005. “Euhemerus and Euhemerism.” In Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd edition), edited by Lindsay Jones, vol. 5, 2882-4. New York: Thompson.
Bremmer, Jan N. 2007. “Atheism in Antiquity.” In The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin, 11-26. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brisson, Luc. 2004. How Philosophers Saved Myths. Allegorical Interpretation and Classical Mythology. Translated by C. Tihanyi. Chicago – London: University of Chicago Press.
Brown, Truesdell S. 1946. “Euhemerus and the Historians.” Harvard Theological Review 39.4: 259-74.
Brown, W. E. 1955. “Some Hellenistic Utopias.” Classical Weekly 48.5: 57-62.
Clay, Diskin, and Andrea Purvis. 1999. Four Island Utopias. Newburyport, Mass.: Focus.
De Angelis, Franco, and Benjamin Garstad. 2006. “Euhemerus in Context.” Classical Antiquity 25.2: 211-42.
De Block, Raymond. 1876. Euhemere: son Livre et sa Doctrine. Diss. Universität Lüttich: Mons.
Decharme, Paul. 1904. La Critique des Traditions Religieuses chez les Grecs des Origines au Temps de Plutarque. Paris: A. Picard.
Dochhorn, Jan. 2000. “Ein ‘Inschriftenfund’ auf Panchaia: Zur ???? ???????? des Euhemeros von Messene.” In Internationales Josephus-Kolloquium Aarhus 1999, edited by Jürgen U. Kalms, 265-97. Münster: LIT.
Dowden, Ken. 2006. Zeus (Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece). London – New York: Routledge.
Drachmann, Anders B. 1922. Atheism in Pagan Antiquity. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
Ferguson, John. 1975. Utopias of the Classical World. London: Thames and Hudson.
Frazer, Peter M. 1972. Ptolemaic Alexandria. Vols. I-II. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Futre Pinheiro, Marilia P. 2006. “Utopia and Utopias: A Study on a Literary Genre in Antiquity.” In Authors, Authority, and Interpreters in the Ancient Novel. Essays in Honor of Gareth L. Schmeling, edited by Shannon N. Byrne, Edmund P. Cueva, and Jean Alvares, 147-71. Groningen: Barkhuis.
Gallagher, Philip J. 1978. “Milton and Euhemerism: Paradise Lost X. 578-584.” Milton Quarterly 12.1: 16-23.
Gamble, Harry Y. 1979. “Euhemerism and Christology in Origen: ‘Contra Celsum’ III 22-43.” Vigiliae Christianae 33.1: 12-29.
Garstad, Benjamin. 2003. “Review of M. Winiarczyk, Euhemeros von Messene: Leben, Werk und Nachwirkung.” Classical Review 53.2: 309–11.
--------. 2004. “Belus in the Sacred History of Euhemerus.” Classical Philology 99: 246-57.
Griffiths, J. G. 1970. Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Harding, Nick. 2007. How to Be a Good Atheist. Harpenden: Oldcastle Books.
Henrichs, Albert. 1975. “Two Doxographical Notes: Democritus and Prodicus on Religion.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 79: 93-123.
--------. 1984. “The Sophists and Hellenistic Religion: Prodicus as the Spiritual Father of the Isis Aretalogies.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 88: 139-58.
Holzberg, Niklas. 2003. “Utopias and Fantastic Travel: Euhemerus, Iambulus.” In The Novel in the Ancient World, edited by Gareth L. Schmeling, 621-28. Leiden: Brill.
Honigman, Sylvie. 2009. “Euhemerus of Messene and Plato’s Atlantis.” Historia 58.1: 1-35.
Jacoby, Felix. 1923. Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker. Vols. I-III. Leiden-Berlin: Brill.
--------. 1907. s.v. Euhemeros. RE 6.1, cols. 952-72.
Kokolakis, Minos. 1995. “Zeus’ Tomb. An Object of Pride and Reproach.” Kernos 8: 123-38.
Langer, Carl. 1926. “Euhemerus und die Theorie der ????? und ????? ????.” Angelos 2: 53-9.
Luraghi, Nino. 2008. The Ancient Messenians. Constructions of Ethnicity and Memory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MacFarlane, Katherine N. 1980. “Isidore of Seville on the Pagan Gods (Origines VIII. 11).” Transactions of the American Philological Society 70.3: 1-40.
Manuel, Frank E. and Fritzie P. Manuel. 1979. Utopian Thought in the Western World. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Müller, Roland J. 1993. “Überlegungen zur ???? ???????? des Euhemeros von Messene.” Hermes 121: 276–300.
Némethy, Géza. 2010 [1889]. Euhemeri Reliquiae: Collegit, Prolegomenis Et Adnotationibus Instruxit. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing.
Pachis, Panayotis. 2010. “The Discourse of a Myth: Diodorus Siculus and the Egyptian Theologoumena During the Hellenistic Age.” In Chasing Down Religion: In the Sights of History and the Cognitive Sciences. Essays in Honor of Luther H. Martin, edited by Panayotis Pachis and Donald Wiebe, 303-36. Thessaloniki: Barbounakis.
Prent, Mieke. 2005. Cretan Sanctuaries and Cults. Continuity and Change from Late Minoan IIIC to the Archaic Period (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World, 154). Leiden – Boston: Brill.
Roubekas, Nickolas P. 2010. “From the Indian Ocean to Alexandria: Euhemerus of Messene and the Origin of the Gods.” In Proceedings of the First Hellenistic Studies Workshop, edited by Kyriakos Savvopoulos, 18-35. Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
--------. 2011. ??????????? ???? ?????: ???????? – ????? – ??????? ???? ??????? ??? ????????. Thessaloniki: Vanias.
--------. 2012a. “Post Mortem Makes a Difference: On a Redescription of Euhemerism and its Place in the Study of Graeco-Roman Divine Kingship.” Religion & Theology 19.3-4: 319-39.
--------. 2012b. “Which Euhemerism will you use? Celsus on the Divine Nature of Jesus.” Journal of Early Christian History 2.2: 80-96.
Schippers, J. W. 1952. De Ontwikkeling der Euhemeristische Godencritiek in de Christelijke Latijnse Literatuur. Groningen: J. B. Wolters.
Seznec, Jean. 1953. The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art. Translated by B. F. Sessions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Spyridakis, Stylianos. 1968. “Zeus is Dead: Euhemerus and Crete.” The Classical Journal 63.8: 337-40.
Susemihl, Franz. 1891. Geschichte der Griechischen Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner.
Thraede, Klaus. 1965. “Euhemerismus.” Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum 6: sp. 877-890.
Van den Meer, Herman F. 1949. Euhemerus van Messene. Diss. Universität Amsterdam.
Vallauri, Giovanna. 1956. Euemero di Messene. Testimonianze e frammenti (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia VIII, 3). Torino: Università di Torino.
--------. 1960. Origine e Diffusione dell’ Evemerismo nel Pensiero Classico (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia XII, 5). Torino: Università di Torino.
Winiarczyk, Marek. 1984. “Wer Galt im Altertum als Atheist?” Philologus 128.2: 157-83.
--------. 1991. Euhemeri Messenii Reliquiae. Stuttgart-Leipzig: Teubner.
------. 1996. “Ennius’ “Euhemerus Sine Sacra Historia.” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 137.3-4: 274-91.
--------. 2002. Euhemeros von Messene: Leben, Werk und Nachwirkung. München –Leipzig: K. G. Saur
= 2013. The Sacred History of Euhemerus of Messene. Translated by Witold Zbirohowski-Ko?cia. Berlin – Boston: De Gruyter.
--------. 2011. Die Hellenistischen Utopien. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Winston, David. 1979. The Wisdom of Solomon. New York: Doubleday.
Zucker, F. 1905. “Euhemerus und Seine ???? ???????? bei den Christlichen Schriftstellern.” Philologus: Zeitschrift für klassische Philologie 64: 465-71.
Zumschlinge, Marianne. 1976. Euhemerus: Staatstheoretische und Staatutopische Motive. Diss. Universität Bonn.
Published
2014-04-22
Issue
Section
Greco-Roman Religions in Focus
How to Cite
Roubekas, N. (2014). What is Euhemerism? A Brief History of Research and Some Persisting Questions. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 43(2), 30-37. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v43i2.30
