In this volume, Sandra Blakely considers technological myths and rituals associated with ancient Greek daimones, who made metal; and African rituals in which iron plays a central role. Noting the rich semantic web of associations that has connected metallurgy to magic, birth, kingship, autochthony, and territorial possession in both Greek and African cultures, Blakely examines them together in order to cast light on the Greek demons, which are only fragmentarily preserved and which have often been equated to general types of smithing gods. Her comparison demonstrates that these demons are more sophisticated and ritually useful than has been previously acknowledged. This book provides new insights into the position of technology in Greek myth. Providing a new methodology for the study of Greek religion, which uses comparative cultural material in a thoughtful and careful way, it helps close the fifty-year gap between the social sciences and Classical philology in the theoretical understanding and study of technological systems.
• A study combining classics and anthropology, myth and ritual, Greece and Africa • New insights into the position of technology in Greek myth • A new methodology for the study of Greek religion using comparative cultural material
Contents
Introduction; Part I. Data and Methodologies: 1. The Greek daimones; 2. Iconography and metallurgy; 3. African iron: history, ritual, and investigation; Part II. Metallurgy and Birth: 4. Birth, craft, and the daimones: the Erectrian hymn to the Daktyloi; 5. Gender and production: the Fipa; 6. The daimones: fertility and ritual performance; 7. Pharmaka and apotropaia; Part III. Metallurgy and Political Power: 8. Iron and political power: Africa; 9. Bakongo investiture: kings, iron, and autochthones; 10. Daimones and political power: Idaian Daktyloi in the Phoronis; 11. Pindar's Telchines; Conclusion.
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