TIM WHITMARSH is currently the A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge. He has published widely on ancient prose fiction, including Narrative and Identity in the Ancient Greek Novel: Returning Romance, and edited The Cambridge Companion to the Greek and Roman Novel.
“Sweeping and stimulating . . . as learned as it is intellectually
thrilling. . . . Battling the Gods fills a gap that probably few of
us had even been aware of, and does so comprehensively.” —Tom
Holland, New Statesman
“Illuminating, lively, learned and cliché-busting . . . a work of
openly committed scholarship. . . . Whitmarsh aims to rescue
ancient doubt and disbelief from a long tradition of slander and
opprobrium . . . and he has an eye-opening story to
tell.” —Boyd Tonkin, The Independent
“Brilliant. . . . This is an invigorating, urgent book that makes
an important contribution to a central contemporary debate.
Whitmarsh makes a compelling case that atheism has had a
distinguished and varied lineage.” —Emily Wilson, The
Guardian
“[A] beautifully written and highly persuasive account of the
origins of atheism in the West.” —Peter Jones, The
Literary Review
“Excellent . . . Whitmarsh argues convincingly that . . . [atheism]
isn’t a product of the modern age but rather reaches back to early
Western intellectual tradition in the ancient Greek world . .
. The best part of Battling the Gods is the Greek chorus of
atheists themselves . . . If you’ve been paying attention to
contemporary atheists you might be startled by the familiarity of
the ancient positions.” —Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, The New York
Times Book Review
“Remarkable . . . a sophisticated and nuanced account of a
fascinating and too often overlooked world . . . as impressive for
its breadth and erudition as for the concision, clarity and ease
with which it conveys . . . a complex story. Mr. Whitmarsh’s
book is a delight to read.” —Christopher Carroll, The
Wall Street Journal
“A seminal work . . . to be studied, reread, and referenced . . .
With a nonprofessorial, relaxed style . . . Whitmarsh delves deeply
into the many philosophers who felt gods were invented by humans or
saw laws, in addition to religion, as merely imposition of order .
. . The author’s erudition is impressive.” —Kirkus (starred
review)
“Battling the Gods is a timely and wonderfully lively reminder that
atheism is as old as belief. Skepticism, Whitmarsh shows, did
not slowly emerge from a fog of piety and credulity. It was
there, fully formed and spoiling for a fight, in the bracing,
combative air of ancient Athens. That the fight was never
decisively won—or lost—only makes its history, as this book shows,
all the more gripping.” —Stephen Greenblatt, author of
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
“If you have ever wondered about premature skeptics who questioned
beliefs held sacrosanct in their own time—such as religion or
slavery in the ancient world—this is the book for you. In plain
English, classics scholar Tim Whitmarsh explores the minds of those
who doubted the existence of gods more than 2500 years ago and got
into trouble because of their doubts. It is a pure delight to be
introduced to people who questioned the supernatural long before
modern science provided physical evidence to support the greatest
insights of human reason.” —Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers: A
History of American Secularism
“In the face of many crude modern discussions of atheism (both pro
and anti), it's great to have Tim Whitmarsh's sophisticated
exploration of various versions of ancient disbelief. It
brilliantly opens up all kinds of issues, from the roots of
religious conflict and the alliance of religion and politics to
(some) virtues of old-fashioned polytheism.”
—Mary Beard, author of Confronting the Classics: Traditions,
Adventures, and Innovations
“Erudite and sweeping, graceful and entertaining, Battling the
Gods relates the fascinating history of atheism in Greco-Roman
antiquity, setting contemporary debates about religion and
secularism in much needed context.” —Danielle Allen, author of Why
Plato Wrote
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