Alpha and Omega

Alpha and Omega (1915) is a collection of essays, lectures, and letters written by Jane Ellen Harrison and published for Harrison during the outbreak of World War I. Contents Crabbed Age and Youth — read to Trinity College Heresy and Humanity (1912) — 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." (143) Alpha and Omega — read to Trinity College; "if we are to keep our hold on Religion, theology must go." (179) Art and Mr. Clive Bell — response to Art by Clive Bell (1914) 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." (v-vi) World War I had brought a melancholy to Harrison's life because pacifist leanings, as admitted in the Epilogue, isolated her.