ABSTRACT
As well as providing a brief review of shifting perspectives in scholarship on divination in Greco-Roman antiquity and a provisional, working definition of “divination,” the introduction will outline the complex relationship between divination and epistemic systems and their representations in Greco-Roman antiquity. It will introduce the major themes of the book: philosophical approaches towards and uses of divination, including the links between divination and variant cosmologies; divination and cultural discourses focusing on gender; divination and time in ancient thought and ritual practices; and the interconnections and complex relationship between divine and human forms and modes of knowledge, in relation to nuanced and subtle formulations of the blending of divine, cosmic and human agency. It will also present the methodologies and approaches utilised within the book, including historical, philosophical, and anthropological approaches, and will provide an overview and contextualisation of the chapters included in the volume.
