THE QUEST FOR THESEUS.

blue & decorative gilt cloth (gold labyrinth on cover) hardbound folio. very large & heavy ("coffee table" size book), int'l or priority shipping will cost extra. dustwrapper in protective plastic. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of all markings. dustwrapper in fine cond. not worn or torn or price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking , underlining, remainder markings etc ~ first edition. first printing ( nap). photo. illustrated title pg. 281p. "With 23 color plates, 176 b&w plates, and 31 maps, charts & line drawings". biblio. list of illustrations & maps. index. ancient history. archaeology. ancient literature. mythology. art history. ancient greece. ancient religion. paganism. ancient crete. minoan & mycenaean age. knossos. ancient mysteries. prehistory. ~ Most people have heard of Theseus, the greatest hero of ancient Athens, and have relegated him to the realm of legend and fairy tale. At first glance, the story of Theseus's adventures, with its bullheaded monsters, Amazons, centaurs, and an expedition to Hades, looks highly unpromising as historical material. However, since Schliemann located Troy by relying upon topographical data in the Homeric poems, archaeologists have been alert to the dangers of rejecting too readily the evidence of legend and tradition. In the case of the Theseus legend, it will be found, paradoxically enough, that it is precisely the most fantastic and unlikely aspects of the story that have the best historical foundations. After a preface by Dr. Reynold Higgins, of the British Museum, and a brief introduction, Dr. Ruth B. Edwards, an experienced classical archaeologist, begins the examination of the "Quest" with an outline of the legend as it was known to the Athenians and the development and variations it underwent up to the end of the classical period. Dr. Anne G. Ward, the editor, then gives a historical survey of the Bronze Age Aegean; she describes the religious and political background and compares the contemporary life and institutions of the mainland with those of Crete. The focus of the book then narrows to the career of Theseus himself, as it follows his steps geographically from Troezen to Scyros and notes the surviving remains that lend support to the historical reality of the hero. The evidence is surprisingly varied and convincing: Well~known examples, such as the palace of the Erechthid kings (of whom Theseus was one) on the Acropolis at Athens and the Labyrinth at Knossos, where evidence of the existence of the famous bull sports can be found, are supplemented by a multitude of minor clues from such sites as Eleusis, Marathon, and Aphidna, which seem to be closely connected with the story. W. R. Connor, Associate Professor of Classics at Princeton University, then carries the story to classical Athens in order to explain what Theseus meant to the Greeks in terms of their daily life. He discusses the religious significance of the hero cult as well as the moral and political implications of the social reforms and unification of Attica that were attributed to Theseus. Simon Tidworth, a specialist on the uses of myth in art, completes the book with a survey of the Theseus legend in Roman, medieval, Renaissance, and modern literature, in music, and in the visual arts. He investigates the ways in which the people of each successive period found something in the legend to suit their own tastes and preoccupations and stressed that element accordingly : From Roman love poets such as Ovid and Catullus to the medieval moralists, the Ariadne story tended to predominate; interest in the more horrific aspects of the Phaedra legend appeared in the Baroque period; and the romantic and neoclassical artists returned to the central figure of Theseus. Many modern writers, painters, and psychologists are intrigued by the strange dualism of the Minotaur, and the legend is still a fruitful source.…