Poetic Heroes: Literary Commemorations of Warriors and Warrior Culture in the Early Biblical World

Warfare exerts a magnetic power, even a terrible attraction, in its emphasis on glory, honor, and duty. In order to face the terror of war, it is necessary to face how our biblical traditions have made it attractive -- even alluring.

In this book Mark Smith undertakes an extensive exploration of poetic heroes across a number of ancient cultures in order to understand the attitudes of those cultures toward war and warriors. Smith examines the Iliad and the Gilgamesh; Ugaritic poems commemorating Baal, Aqhat, and the Rephaim; and early biblical poetry, including the battle hymn of Judges 5 and the lament of David over Saul and Jonathan in 2 Samuel 1. Smith's Poetic Heroes analyzes the importance of heroic poetry in early Israel and its disappearance after the time of David, building on several strands of scholarship in archaeological research, poetic analysis, and cultural reconstruction.

Author: Mark S. Smith
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Published: 09/15/2014
Pages: 660
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.97lbs
Size: 9.01h x 6.11w x 1.52d
ISBN: 9780802867926

About the Author
Smith, Mark S.: - Mark S. Smith is Helena Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary. His other books include The Memoirs of God: History, Memory, and the Experience of the Divine and Where the Gods Are: Spatial Dimensions of Anthropomorphism in the Biblical World.

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