Joseph Eddy Fontenrose (17 June 1903, Sutter Creek – July 1986, Ashland, Oregon) was an American classical scholar. He was centrally interested in Greek religion and

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

; he was also an expert on

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

, commenting on the mythology in Steinbeck's work. He was from

Sutter Creek, California Sutter Creek (formerly spelled Sutter's Creek and Suttercreek; formerly named Suttersville) is a city in Amador County, California, United States. The population was 2,501 at the 2010 census, up from 2,303 at the 2000 census. It is accessible vi ...

. Most of his academic career was spent at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, where he had graduated in 1925 in Political Science, after an instructor position he held from 1937. An early influence was Ivan Linforth. He was made a professor in 1955, chaired the classics department, and became

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. His politics were known to be

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

. He gave public support in the early 1960s to the Free Speech Movement and Young People's Socialist League. He showed a more conservative side in relation to student activism as it touched teaching."The Free Speech Movement"
/ref> In his 1966 book, ''The Ritual Theory of Myth'', he subjected the myth-ritual theory to an intense attack, targeting the views of some of the associated scholars, particularly Lord Raglan and Stanley Edgar Hyman.

Works

*''Python; a study of Delphic myth and its origins'' (1959) *''John Steinbeck; an introduction and interpretation'' (1963) *''The Ritual Theory of Myth'' (1966) *''The Delphic Oracle: Its Responses and Operations'' (1978) *''Orion: The Myth of the Hunter and the Huntress'' (1981) *''Steinbeck's Unhappy Valley. A Study of The Pastures of Heaven'' (1981) *''Classics at Berkeley, The First Century (1869-1970)'' (1982) *''Didyma. Apollo's Oracle, Cult and Companions'' (1988)

Notes

External links

*
"Joseph Edward Fontenrose, Classics: Berkeley"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontenrose, Joseph 1903 births 1986 deaths American classical scholars Classical scholars of the University of California, Berkeley Scholars of Greek mythology and religion