2024/09/10 · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Classical Antiquity Studies #Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies #Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
paper · doi:10.30549/actaath-8-24
openalex publication_date 2024/09/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
2017 marked the 50th anniversary of both the death of Martin P. Nilsson, the eminent Swedish scholar of ancient Greek religion, and the publication of the third edition of his monumental Geschichte der griechischen Religion. Nilsson’s scholarly output was huge, with a production of around 20 items annually, and he touched upon most aspects of the study of ancient Greek religion, be it in a book or an article, in a footnote or an in-depth argument. This volume constitutes a re-reading of Nilsson in the light of new ancient evidence, and modern methods and theoretical approaches. Five leading researchers in this field of religion revisit major works of Nilsson’s oeuvre—Geschichte der griechischen Religion, vols 1 and 2 (Jon Mikalson and Eftychia Stavrianopoulou), Greek folk religion (Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge), Minoan-Mycenaean religion (Matthew Haysom) and Greek piety (Michael D. Konaris)—in order to explore whether his works today are mainly touched upon with just the usual obligatory references or if they still have an active impact on contemporary discourses. Hopefully, this undertaking will stimulate others to explore the vast landscape of Nilsson’s work in the future.