http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
descending underground in the search for ultimate truth
In ancient Greece, a common method of search for divine wisdom was to descend into caves or underground chambers. Entering caves persistently appears as a major requirement for prophecy-giving, both in established cults and in the activities of individual seers. Underground sojourns recur in the activities of several early Greek sages and philosophers. Mystery initiations comprise rites located in caves or dark chambers. The sages, seers, and initiates shared a quest for hidden truth, which they attained as revelation or vision. Exploring the reasons for the predilection for caves in the search for ultimate truth, this book juxtaposes ancient testimonies with the results of modern neuroscience. This approach, new in Classical Studies, enables an examination of the consciousness of people who were engaged in the vision quest. It is argued that cave environment creates conditions which force the human mind to deviate from its normal waking state and to enter altered states of consciousness, in many cases leading to the sensation of ineffable revelation of ultimate reality. Altered states of consciousness often occur in people exposed to sensory deprivation. As a result, various mediators between gods and mortals practice prolonged isolation in caves and other closed spaces in their quest of ecstatic illumination. The book demonstrates that multiple cave experiences of the Greeks are culturally patterned responses to the states determined by the neurology of the human brain.
1. Cave experiences and the human mind -- Altered states of consciousness -- Caves as mental images -- Human consciousness in the cave -- Near-death experiences -- Altered states of consciousness, shamanism, and ancient Greece -- 2. Oracles and caves -- Caves of the nymphs and Pan -- Entrances to the netherworld -- Oracles of underground dwellers -- Apollo shining in the dark -- The Delphic Adyton : theories and facts -- 3. Seers and poets -- Sibyls -- Blind seers -- 4. Sages and philosophers -- Early sages -- Pythagoras -- Parmenides and the Eleatics -- Empedocles -- 5. Near-death experiences, real and make-believe -- Chasm in the mind -- Mysteries -- Retrospect.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009