Egypt. Histories, II.
Beautiful Letters| N° d'inventaire | 3238 |
| Format | 11 x 18 |
| Détails | 252 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 1997 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782251799209 |
Classic bilingual collection. A founding text of ethnographic literature, Book II of Herodotus's Histories aims to grasp the multiple facets of Egyptian culture. During his "Egyptian expedition," Herodotus carried with him the toolbox of Ionian rationalism: polarity and analogy to domesticate otherness without reducing its power of fascination, inversion and symmetry, the first maps of the Earth, the science of meteors and climates, the diffusionist theory of culture and religion, investigative techniques for questioning the priests of Memphis, Thebes, and Heliopolis, etc. From the art of preparing mummies to the search for the sources of the Nile, from life among men, from sacred animals to the deeds of the pharaohs, from daily customs to religious and oracular rites, Herodotus tells the story of Egypt to his compatriots and invites them, and us with them, to travel through time and culture as much as through space. The colorful inventory of wonders and differences is mixed with a reflection on the origins of the gods, cults and civilization, on the very identity of Greek culture that we rediscover in the mirror of the land of the Pyramids.
Classic bilingual collection. A founding text of ethnographic literature, Book II of Herodotus's Histories aims to grasp the multiple facets of Egyptian culture. During his "Egyptian expedition," Herodotus carried with him the toolbox of Ionian rationalism: polarity and analogy to domesticate otherness without reducing its power of fascination, inversion and symmetry, the first maps of the Earth, the science of meteors and climates, the diffusionist theory of culture and religion, investigative techniques for questioning the priests of Memphis, Thebes, and Heliopolis, etc. From the art of preparing mummies to the search for the sources of the Nile, from life among men, from sacred animals to the deeds of the pharaohs, from daily customs to religious and oracular rites, Herodotus tells the story of Egypt to his compatriots and invites them, and us with them, to travel through time and culture as much as through space. The colorful inventory of wonders and differences is mixed with a reflection on the origins of the gods, cults and civilization, on the very identity of Greek culture that we rediscover in the mirror of the land of the Pyramids.