Presents an introduction to the mythology of the peoples, who inhabited the northwestern fringes of Europe from Britain and the Isle of Man to Gaul and Brittany. This guide looks at the gods and goddesses of Celtic myth; at the nature of Celtic religion, with its rituals of sun and moon worship; and at the druids who served society as judges.
'Invigorating . . . essential reading for anyone tempted to be complacent about the survival of democracy in the twenty-first century' Catherine Fletcher Democracy is a living, breathing thing and Erica Benner has spent a lifetime thinking about the role ordinary citizens play in keeping it alive: from her childhood in post-war Japan, where democracy was imposed on a defeated country, to working in post-communist Poland, with its sudden gaps of wealth and security. This book draws on her experiences and the deep history of self-ruling peoples - going back to ancient Greece, the French revolution and Renaissance Florence - to rethink some of the toughest questions that we face today. What do democratic ideals of equality mean in a world obsessed with competition, wealth, and greatness? How can we hold the powerful to account? Can we find enough common ground to keep sharing democratic power in the future? Challenging well-worn myths of heroic triumph over tyranny, Benner reveals the inescapable vulnerabilities of people power, inviting us to consider why democracy is worth fighting for and the role each of us must play.
In a volume that has become a standard text in Irish studies and serves as a course-friendly alternative to the Field Day anthology, editors Maureen O’Rourke Murphy and James MacKillop survey thirteen centuries of Irish literature, including Old Irish epic and lyric poetry, Irish folksongs, and drama. For each author the editors provide a biographical sketch, a brief discussion of how his or her selections relate to a larger body of work, and a selected bibliography. In addition, this new volume includes a larger sampling of women writers.
Keltové byli jakýmisi všudybyly starověku. Jejich stopy jsou roztroušeny od Galatie, nacházející se v dnešním Turecku, přes střední Evropu až po Portugalskou Galicii a samozřejmě – Britské ostrovy. Po úvodní části, seznamující nás s dějinami a potížemi bádání nad keltským bájeslovím, se přehledně dovíme, to nejpodstatnější o irských a velšských mýtech stejně jako o dalších dochovaných vyprávěních z příbuzných oblastí.