Publisher's Synopsis
The legends and historical accounts of the early Greeks contain many references to special statues or images upon whose presence the continued safety of a city or house depended. These images included statues of animals believed to be omens of great disasters, predatory beasts, dangerous goddesses and plague gods. This study describes the variety and range of these images and demonstrates that the many legends about such statues are actually grounded in rituals that were shared by many of the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean. The author argues that a continuous tradition existed, shared by Greeks and neighbouring cultures, which was passed down from one generation to the next relatively unchanged.
