How did Greek literature and cultural assumptions / world-view interact? John Gould examines ancient Greek ideas concerning myth, ritual, memory, and exchange. An overriding interest in anthropological fieldwork shapes his argument.

The book contains the most significant essays (some now regarded as classics) written by one of the world's foremost experts in Greek mythology and culture over the last thirty years, including many previously unpublished papers. Newly revised, with reference both to corroborative material and to subsequent treatments and discussion of significantly different approaches to the same topics, these essays give the whole volume a marked coherence of focus and argument. Most of the essays arise out of the experience of teaching and address problems, puzzles, and misunderstandings encountered by students.