| Physical description |
x, 316 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-307) and index. |
| Contents |
Pt. I. The Origins of the Bull-cult. 1. The Bull-cult in the Ancient World. 2. The Nature of the Cult. 3. The Mind of Man. 4. The Bull as Sacrificial Victim -- Pt. II. The Realm of the Bull. 5. The Bull and the Upper Palaeolithic Hunters. 6. Settlement, Domestication and Urbanization. 7. Catal Huyuk and the Bull in Anatolia. 8. The Bull in Mesopotamia. 9. The Bull in Persia. 10. The Royal and Divine Bull of Egypt. 11. The Bull in the Eastern Mediterranean. 12. Arabia and the 'Islands of the Bulls'. 13. Crete and the Bull-games. 14. The Bull and Europa. 15. The Bull in Cyprus -- Pt. III. The Legacy of the Bull. 16. The Bull and the Boys. 17. Man-bull, Bull-man. 18. The Bull in Splendour and in Shame. |
| Summary |
Everyone has heard of the Minotaur in the labyrinth on Crete and many know that the Greek gods would adopt the guise of a bull to seduce mortal women. But what lies behind these legends? "The Power of the Bull" discusses mankind's enduring obsession with bulls. The bull is an almost universal symbol throughout Indo-European cultures and cults proliferated in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Michael Rice's examination of the bull from earliest prehistory onwards reveals it to be a symbol of political authority, sexual potency, economic wealth and vast subterranean powers. In some areas representations of the bull have varied little from the end of antiquity, in others it has changed vastly over centuries. This volume provides a well-illustrated and accessible analysis of the exceptionally rich, artistic inheritance associated with the bull. |
| Subject |
Bulls -- Religious aspects.
|
|
Bulls -- Mythology.
|
| ISBN |
0415090326 (hardback : alkaline paper) |
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