Books by Walter (University of Zurich) Burkert

Uncovers deep connections between the strange nocturnal ritual, in which two virgin girls carried sacred offerings into a cave and later returned with something given to them there, and tribal puberty initiations by linking the festival with the myth of the daughters of Kekrops.

We often think of classical Greek society as a model of rationality and order. Yet, in this text, Walter Burkert demonstrates that there were archaic, savage forces, with potentially violent and destructive energies, surging beneath the outwardly calm face of classical Greece,

This synthesis of Greek religion aims to provide a structured survey for classical scholars and students, and provides an account of a polytheistic religious system. The text builds up a picture of the current state of knowledge about the religion of the Ancient Greeks.