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Article: When the ancient gods came back.(Books)(On Books)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- March 25, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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If the late-18th century in Europe, the time of the Enlightenment so-called, was a poor season for a Christian God spurned in the name of reason, those years were no less arid for the ancient Greek gods. To be sure, the ups and downs of Zeus and his lesser Olympians went back beyond the dawn of Christianity. Once, the gods had used to show themselves to men, then less so with the passage of time. Still, Virgil, in his day, could write of the equivalent Roman deity, "Iovis omnia plena," Jove is everywhere.
Come the Italian Renaissance and for several centuries after, painters from Sandro Botticelli to Giovanni Battista Tiepolo did their share to sustain the ...