Alpha and Omega (Harrison book)

Alpha and Omega is a collection of essays, lectures, and letters written by Jane Ellen Harrison and published for Harrison during the outbreak of World War I.

Crabbed Age and Youth — read to Trinity College
Heresy and Humanity — published by the Cambridge Society of Heretics
Unanimism and Conversion — published by the Cambridge Society of Heretics
"Homo Sum" — letter to an anti-suffragist
Scientiae Sacra Fames — read before the London Sociological Society
The Influence of Darwinism on the Study of Religions — or "The Creation of Darwinism of the Scientific Study of Religions."
Alpha and Omega — read to Trinity College; "if we are to keep our hold on Religion, theology must go."
Art and Mr. Clive Bell — response to Art by Clive Bell
''Epilogue on the War: Peace and Patriotism''

Purpose

In Alpha and Omega's preface, Harrison explains why she published such various topics, ranging from magic to post-Impressionism, in one work. She says, "Seen in the fierce glare of war, these theories -- academic in origin and interest --... seemed like faded photographs." World War I had brought a melancholy to Harrison's life because pacifist leanings, as admitted in the Epilogue, isolated her.

Alpha and Omega (Harrison book)

Contents

Purpose