Greek/Roman/Egyptian texts

[phoenixsong]

I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find translated versions of Greek, Roman or Egyptian texts on religion and their deities. I'd just like to find out what the people in those cultures really thought of their God/desses.

[Mnemosyne]

Hi Phoenix Song. What exactly are you asking? Do you want to know of religious texts from these cultures? I have learned a lot of how these people viewed their dieties by reading primary sources from the time period. The list of primary sources from the times of ancient Egypt, Rome and Greek is extensive. Personally, I learned how the Egyptians viewed their gods by looking at the art work that they put in their pyramids. For Greece, you can read the Hymns to the gods, the works of Homer, histories by Herodotus and Thucydides, poetry, philosphies, and dramas. These people either write how they are devoted to the gods or poke fun of them. For Rome, you can read the works of Virgil, histories by Livy, Caesar, Suetonius, poetry by Ovid and Horace, letters by Cicero and Pliny, philsophy/drama by Senecca. You can also tell that the people respected their gods by building so many temples. Does that kind of answer your question? If you have more specific questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.

[Melysande]

Here's the Egyptian Book of the Dead:

http://www.lysator.liu.se/~drokk/BoD/toc.html


Granted, it's the Budge version, but it's better than nothing. :)

Here is some Egyptian love poetry, translated into English: http://www.mix-net.net/~anubis/love.html

Here is an excellent place to go to buy Egyptian texts, as translated in books for sale on their site, as well as on Amazon: http://www.kemet.org/booklist/

[phoenixsong]

I'd to find out what those people really believed about their deities, what they thought of them, how they worshipped them. It's partly, I guess, to help me see which pantheons I'm most attracted to, and to see from original sources how different deities were worshipped.

Thanks v. much for the ideas and links! :)

[AnkhesenAset]

Phoenixsong, for information on how the Ancient Egyptians viewed their Deities, do NOT use Budge. He is now considered one of the worst translations, having mistranslated most of what he worked with. Not to mention the disaster that he made of the Scroll of Ani... (That's the Book of the Dead.) Find the Faulkner's version of the The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day. There are also a couple good sites for reconstructing the Kemetic religion at http://www.kemetonline.com/ , http://www.per-ankh.org/ , http://www.hwt-hrw.com/ , http://www.chotg.org/frame.htm (which is the Clearing House of the Gods, has information on quite a few reconstructive religions) That's just a start. CHotG should also be able to help out with Greek and Roman as well. :) And I highly suggest joining the boards on the Kemet Online site if you're interested in Kemeticism. Great bunch of people there, and very helpful.