Remus: A Roman Myth (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780521483667)

Romulus founded Rome -- but why does the myth give him a twin brother Remus, who is killed at the moment of the foundation? This mysterious legend has been oddly neglected. Roman historians ignore it as irrelevant to real history; students of myth concentrate on the more glamorous mythology of Greece, and treat Roman stories as of little interest. In this book, Professor Wiseman provides, for the first time, a detailed analysis of all the variants of the story, and a historical explanation for its origin and development. His conclusions offer important new insights, both into the history and ideology of pre-imperial Rome and into the methods and motives of myth-creation in a non-literate society. In the richly unfamiliar Rome of Pan, Hermes and Circe the witch-goddess, where a general grows miraculous horns and prophets demand human sacrifice, Remus stands for the unequal struggle of the many against the powerful few.

Author: T. P. Wiseman
ISBN-10: 0521483662
ISBN-13: 9780521483667
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/25/1995
Pages: 260
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 8.02h x 6.18w x 0.65d