Joseph Fontenrose
Joseph Eddy Fontenrose (17 June 1903,
Sutter Creek – July 1986, Ashland, Oregon) was an American classical scholar. He was centrally interested in Greek religion and Greek mythology; he was also an expert on John Steinbeck
, commenting on the mythology in Steinbeck's work.
He was from
professor emeritus
.
His politics were known to be
socialist. He gave public support in the early 1960s to the Free Speech Movement and Young People's Socialist League.[1][2] He showed a more conservative side in relation to student activism as it touched teaching.[3]
In his 1966 book, The Ritual Theory of Myth, he subjected the
myth-ritual theory to an intense attack, targeting the views of some of the associated scholars, particularly Lord Raglan and Stanley Edgar Hyman
.
Works
- Python; a study of Delphic myth and its origins (1959)
- John Steinbeck; an introduction and interpretation (1963)
- The Ritual Theory of Myth (1966)
- The Delphic Oracle: Its Responses and Operations (1978)
- Orion: The Myth of the Hunter and the Huntress (1981)
- Steinbeck's Unhappy Valley. A Study of The Pastures of Heaven (1981)
- Classics at Berkeley, The First Century (1869-1970) (1982)
- Didyma. Apollo's Oracle, Cult and Companions (1988)
Notes
External links
- Joseph Fontenrose at the Database of Classical Scholars
- "Joseph Edward Fontenrose, Classics: Berkeley"