Democracy, Empire & the Arts in Fifth–Century Athens (Center for Hellenic Studies: Colloquia S.) - Hardcover

Boedeker, Deborah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674197690 ISBN 13: 9780674197695

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1999

Synopsis

Athens in the 5th century BC offers a striking picture of the first democracy in history; the first empire created and ruled by a Greek; and a flourishing of learning, philosophical thought, and visual and performing arts. To what extent were these developments interrelated? This text answers this question. The authors bring to this analysis their individual areas of expertise - in the visual arts, poetry and drama, philosophy, archaeology, religion, and social, economic, and political history - and a variety of theoretical approaches.

About this title

Review:

This big and important book, consistently interesting and well-edited, addresses a central problem. Fifth-century Athens was a democracy, and an imperial power. What was the connection between these two characteristics on the one hand and the city's artistic achievement on the other?...Not only is the presentation Yof this book virtually immaculate, but immense care has evidently gone into the arduous job of integrating the contributors and eliciting further responses from contributors and others...There is nothing parochially North American about the flavour of the book. On the contrary, it is intercontinental in its approach (just as its contributors are fair-mindedly scrupulous in their efforts to be panhellenic not Atheno-centric in their discussions)...The bibliography takes up no less than 65 pages of the book, and will itself be an extremely useful resource...Unlike so many rhapsodic treatments of the Athenian cultural miracle, it never allows itself for a moment to forget to compare developments elsewhere. That must be in some degree a tribute to the outstanding job the editors have done. -- Simon Hornblower "Bryn Mawr Classical Review"

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0674197690
• ISBN 13: 9780674197695
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 510