Mother of the Gods

Mother of the Gods reaches out far beyond its ostensible subject-the cult of the divine mother in Greece, Rome, and Christianity. It is rich with implications for our understanding of antiquity in general-and, for that matter, for our understanding of culture and society. Philippe Borgeaud provides a model of scholarship: concise, clear, consistently interesting and lively, at moments quite deep. This is a book that every scholar interested in ancient religion will have to read. -- James Redfield, University of Chicago

Borgeaud's challenging and nuanced portrait opens new windows on the ancient world's sophisticated religious beliefs and shifting cultural identities.This important work by a major scholar of ancient religion traces the history of the Mother of the Gods, originally an Anatolian deity whose cult spread through the Hellenistic, Roman, and ultimately Christian worlds, through shifting cultural and historical contexts.