Greek Religion
Walter Burkert
Harvard: Cambridge, MA, 1985

Walter Burkert's survey of Greek religion from prehistory to the Classical era is widely regarded as the authoritative text on the matter, and this reputation is deserved. Spanning the eras between the Minoan civilization on Crete to the development of philosophical approaches to theology by the likes of Plato and Aristotle. Burkert focuses mainly on the public religion of the polis, the aspect of Greek religion that we know most about, as it was what writers wrote about; personal religion is mentioned where appropriate but the main thrust of the book is towards the official religion of the ancient Greek city-states. The topics he covers are highly applicable to Hellenic religion in an ADF context, though, giving the reader the ancient Greek viewpoint of many of our standard ADF practices: libations and other offerings, ritual and its function in a Hellenic context, seasonal festivals in a Greek model, and the roles of Ancestors/Heroes and Nature Spirits in Greek cosmology. His review of the Gods of the Greeks was extremely helpful to me; from the twelve Olympian deities to the minor ones, Burkert details the general mythology surrounding the deities and gives some idea of the role and sphere with which each is concerned. His treatment of Heracles and other heroes helped me understand where their veneration fit within both Greek piety and within Our Druidry; among the Ancestors I count both those from whom I descend by blood and those I consider "ancestors in spirit", and it is these spiritual forebears that most resemble the Hellenic conception of the mighty heroic dead.

My only complaint with the book is my perception that Burkert has a tendency towards a Darwinian model of religious development. This is an idea which does not sit well with me and which is out of fashion in the field of Religious Studies: the idea that societies begin their religious explorations with animism and evolve through polytheism toward monotheism is a triumphalistic view that sees "ethical monotheism" (read: Christianity or Judaism) as the pinnacle of religious thought. Burkert never explicitly claims that the Greeks were evolving in this way but it was implied strongly throughout the text. Despite the occasional "huh?" moment when encountering a statement that treated polytheism as an outdated aberration, this book was helpful and continues to be an excellent recommendation as an introduction to the Hellenic hearth culture.

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