---
product_id: 21023614
title: "The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind"
brand: "garth fowden"
price: "354 zł"
currency: PLN
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 4
url: https://www.desertcart.pl/products/21023614-the-egyptian-hermes-a-historical-approach-to-the-late-pagan
store_origin: PL
region: Poland
---

# The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind

**Brand:** garth fowden
**Price:** 354 zł
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind by garth fowden
- **How much does it cost?** 354 zł with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pl](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/21023614-the-egyptian-hermes-a-historical-approach-to-the-late-pagan)

## Best For

- garth fowden enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted garth fowden brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind

## Images

![The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91Ck2JuM0SL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good study of Hermes/Thoth
*by A***D on February 14, 2025*

Who is Hermes? Who is Thoth? Questions, questions. A great historical study of this enigmatic personality. Fairly readable and full of lots of interesting tidbids and information.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Possibly the most informative book on Hermetism
*by D***S on December 30, 2010*

The Egyptian Hermes is a very concise and rich analysis of the Hermetic mysteries in late Antiquity. Fowden draws parallels between the Hermetic system and other esoteric philosophies and movements of the time, like Iamblichus' Neoplatonic theurgy, the Magical Papyri, and Gnostic literature. The result is a brilliant scholarly work, that is possibly the most valuable survey of the Hermetic movement written so far. Fowden's writing style is a bit convoluted at times, and the beginning student may have some difficulty absorbing all the information on the first read, but aside from that this book is a work of genius. Fowden's book, plus a good translation of the Hermetica (like those of Walter Scott, Brian Copenhaver or Clement Salaman), is all the reader will need to begin a serious study of Hermetism.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A seminal work (for academics)
*by C***H on November 25, 2003*

Fowden, as a writer, is admittedly no model of lucidity; at the same time, he is writing for academics, and is thus able to compress a huge amount into a small space. If you are not used to academic prose, you will find this book very difficult; it would also help if you know a certain amount about the reception of the Hermetica in 19th and 20th century historiography, and perhaps a bit about the late Classical era.At the same time, this book has been reprinted for a reason: it's the single most important historical argument about the Hermetica. For a long time, the Hermetica were understood to be purely Greek, essentially Hellenic misappropriations of pseudo-Egyptian ideas, recast in Neoplatonic style. What Fowden does is to show that these texts do have an important base within the dying Egyptian traditions of their day.For non-specialists, this may seem like small potatoes. But it changes everything. If you have read Frances Yates, for example, she argued that these texts were grotesquely misread by Ficino and the Renaissance tradition, on three counts: (1) they thought the texts were really, really ancient, more or less contemporary with Moses; (2) they thought the texts were Egyptian, not Greek; and (3) they thought the texts were really about magic (and not philosophy). Now there's no question that the Hermetica are from 1st-2d century Alexandria, but they are _not_ simply Greek; they are, in a sense, Egyptian formulations that draw on the then-influential Greek modes of philosophical thought. Furthermore, it means that the texts we usually think of as the Hermetic Corpus can and should be correlated with the PGM (the Greek Magical Papyri and their Demotic associates), changing the whole character of the texts by giving them a wildly different literary and ritual context. In other words, the Renaissance got the dating wrong, but in many respects got the rest more or less right; as a result, Fowden's book not only changes the way we read the Hermetica in their Alexandrian context, but also how we make sense of the Renaissance magical revival (Ficino, Pico, Agrippa, Bruno, etc.).If, having read this review, you think, "Who cares?" then this book is certainly not for you. If you think, "Wow! That's fascinating," then this is essential. I have seen the odd quibble with small points in Fowden's arguments, but I have not seen any serious attack on the main thrust of the book. Considering when it was first written, that's extraordinary.But you do need to be comfortable with academic prose.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind
- The Way of Hermes: New Translations of The Corpus Hermeticum and The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius
- Hermetica II

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pl/products/21023614-the-egyptian-hermes-a-historical-approach-to-the-late-pagan](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/21023614-the-egyptian-hermes-a-historical-approach-to-the-late-pagan)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Poland*
*Store origin: PL*
*Last updated: 2026-01-23*