Listen now (54 min) | A discussion with Dr. Johnston about a paper she wrote called 'Whose Gods are These? A Classicist Looks at Neopaganism' and her new book Gods and Mortals: Ancient Greek Myths for Modern Readers.
This was really interesting to listen to. I've long respected Dr. Johnston's work both from an academic perspective (though I'm not a Classicist or anything like it) and because like a lot of American pagans (not a term I use for myself now, but I did when I started reading her work) I've read a lot of academic sources to inform my practice, as you both discussed. That led me to learning more about the cultural and historical context in which the myths I grew up reading as isolated stories were situated.
This was really interesting to listen to. I've long respected Dr. Johnston's work both from an academic perspective (though I'm not a Classicist or anything like it) and because like a lot of American pagans (not a term I use for myself now, but I did when I started reading her work) I've read a lot of academic sources to inform my practice, as you both discussed. That led me to learning more about the cultural and historical context in which the myths I grew up reading as isolated stories were situated.
Hindu world is polytheistic and we got paganism entering