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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

Edited by
Elsa Giovanna Simonetti  and
Claire Hall
Elsa Giovanna Simonetti
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Claire Hall
Affiliation:
University of Durham
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Summary

This volume aims to explore the tension between two aspects of divination: while it is supposed to be a divine gift founded on inspiration, it also requires human conjecture and specific skills. Divination therefore is understood as involving not only a variety of methods of knowing but also a variety of types of knowledge. This tension can be understood as an arrangement along two different axes: one axis, concerning the mode of divination, is a spectrum which runs from entirely inspired divination to entirely conjectural divination; the other axis, which concerns the type of knowledge or the objects of divination, runs from contingency to transcendence.

These two axes correspond to divisions defined since antiquity. On the one hand, ancient authors recognised the division between ‘natural’ divination, based on inspiration (as in possession, oracles, visions, or dreams), and ‘technical’ divination, based on conjecture (as in augury, astrology, extispicy, and generally the interpretation of signs).

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Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity , pp. 1 - 14
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Elsa Giovanna Simonetti, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, Claire Hall, University of Durham
  • Book: Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity
  • Online publication: 19 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009328777.001
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Elsa Giovanna Simonetti, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, Claire Hall, University of Durham
  • Book: Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity
  • Online publication: 19 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009328777.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Elsa Giovanna Simonetti, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, Claire Hall, University of Durham
  • Book: Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity
  • Online publication: 19 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009328777.001
Available formats
×