Jennifer Larson

Biography

Jennifer Larson received her Ph.D in Classics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992 with a dissertation on Greek heroine cults, which became her first book. Her publications include five books on ancient Greek religion and culture, as well as many articles and chapters on Greek religion in relation to Archaic and Hellenistic Greek poetry and myth. More recently her research interests lie in cognitive approaches to ancient Mediterranean religions and she has worked extensively with the team behind Seshat: Global History Databank on such topics as the roles of ritual, human sacrifice and moralizing religions in the development of complex societies.

Dr. Larson is a lifelong antiquarian book-collector who has served as Treasurer and as Chair of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies.

Education

Ph.D. Classics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A. Classics; University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A. Ancient Greek and English, Mercer University

Publications

2023. Harnessing the Gods: Big Gods Theory and Moral Supervision in the Greek World. In S. Blakeley, ed. Data science, human science, and ancient gods: Conversations in theory and method. Atlanta, GA: Lockwood. https://doi.org/10.5913/2023518.03
2023. Cognitive science of religion and the work of Henk Versnel. In Frits Naerebout and Kim Beerden (eds) Coping with Versnel: A Roundtable on Religion and Magic. In Honour of the 80th Birthday of Henk S. Versnel. Leiden: Brill. 63-82. https://doi.org/10
2022. P. Turchin, H. Whitehouse, J. Larson et al. Explaining the rise of moralizing religions: A test of competing hypotheses using the Seshat Databank. Religion Brain and Behavior June 2022. Ahead of print: 10.1080/2153599X.2022.2065345 [Appeared in prin
2022. [co-authored with Harvey Whitehouse et al.] Big Gods and big science: Further reflections on theory, data, and analysis. Religion Brain and Behavior June 2022. Ahead of print: https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2022.2065354 [Appeared in print April 28
2022. [co-authored with Harvey Whitehouse et al.] Testing the Big Gods hypothesis with global historical data: a review and “retake” Religion Brain and Behavior June 2022. Ahead of print: https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2022.2074085 [Appeared in print Ap
2021. The cognitive anatomy of a mystery cult. In N. Belayche, F. Massa and P. Hoffmann eds. Les mystères au IIe siècle de notre ère: Un tournant. Turnhout: Brepols. 181-97.
2021. The Greek cult of Heracles. In D. Ogden ed. The Oxford handbook of Heracles. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Online July 2021, DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190650988.013.34
2019. Nature gods, nymphs and the cognitive science of religion. In T. Scheer ed., Natur – Mythos – Religion im antiken Griechenland. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. 71-85.
2019. Herakles and Hermes. In J. F. Miller and J. S. Clay eds.,Tracking Hermes, pursuing Mercury, Oxford University Press. 49-64.
2019. Urbs antiqua fuit. Brian Friel’s use of epic in "Translations." International Journal of the Classical Tradition, June 24. https://rdcu.be/bHFss
2018. A response: Does a cognitive approach challenge prevailing models of Greek religion? Journal of Cognitive Historiography 4.1, 53-59.
2017. Venison for Artemis? The problem of deer sacrifice. In S. Hitch and I. Rutherford eds. Animal sacrifice in the ancient Greek world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 48-62.
2016. Understanding Greek religion: A cognitive approach. London and New York: Routledge.
2014. Sexuality in Greek and Roman religion. In Thomas K. Hubbard, ed. A companion to Greek and Roman sexualities. Wiley-Blackwell. 214-29.
2013. Greece. In Barbette Spaeth, ed., The Cambridge companion to ancient Mediterranean religions. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge and New York. 136-56.
2012. Greek and Roman sexualities: A sourcebook. Edited and translated by J. Larson. London: Bloomsbury/Continuum.
2011. Bilingual Inscriptions and translation in antiquity. In Siobhan McElduff and Enrica Sciarrino eds., A Sea of Languages: Complicating the History of Western Translation. Leiden: Brill. 50-61.
2009. Votive arms and armor in the sanctuaries of goddesses: An empirical approach. Kernos Supplement 23.123-33.
2009. Dangerous brides: Nymphs in the paintings of Hans Meertens. In O. Lindboe and H. Meertens eds., Sweet fever: The art of Hans Meertens. Copenhagen: Art 75. 43-4.
2009. The singularity of Herakles. In Heroes: Mortals and myths in ancient Greece. (Exhibit Catalogue). Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum and Yale University Press. 31-8.
2007. Ancient Greek cults: A guide. New York and London: Routledge
2007. A land full of gods: Nature deities in Greek religion. In D. Ogden ed, A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell. 56-70.
2005. Lugalbanda and Hermes. Classical Philology 100.1,1-16.
2004. Paul’s Masculinity. Journal of Biblical Literature 123.1, 85-97.
2002. Corinna and the daughters of Asopus. Syllecta Classica 13.47-62.
2001. Greek Nymphs: Myth, cult, lore. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
1997. Handmaidens of Artemis? Classical Journal 92.3, 249-57.
1997. Astacides the Goatherd (Callimachus Ep. 22 Pf.). Classical Philology 92.2, 131-37.
1995. The Corycian nymphs and the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 36.4, 341-57.
1995. Greek heroine cults. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Affiliations

Society for Classical Studies Women’s Classical Caucus of the SCS Classical Association of the Midwest and South Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion

Documents

News Stories

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