Democracy, empire, and the arts in fifth-century Athens / edited by Deborah Boedeker & Kurt A. Raaflaub.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Boedeker, Deborah Dickmann.

Raaflaub, Kurt A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy.

Athens (Greece)--Civilization.

Athens (Greece).

Greece--History--Athenian supremacy, 479-431 B.C.

Greece.

History.

Democracy--Greece--Athens.

Arts, Greek--Political aspects--Greece--Athens.

Arts, Greek.

Arts, Greek--Political aspects.

Greece--Athens.

Physical Description:

viii, 504 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1998.

Summary:

Athens in the fifth century BC offers a striking picture: the first democracy in history; the first empire created and by a Greek and a flourishing of learning, philosophical thought, and visual and performing arts so rich as to leave a remarkable heritage for Western civilization. To what extent were these three parallel developments interrelated? An international group of fourteen scholars expert in different fields explores here the ways in which the fifth-century "cultural revolution" depended on Athenian democracy and the ways it was influenced by the fact that Athens was an imperial city.

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. The product of a colloquium at Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., Democracy, Empire, and the Arts in Fifth-Century Athens sheds new light on a much debated question that has wide implications. The book is illustrated and enriched by a comprehensive bibliography on the subject.

Contents:

Introduction / Deborah Boedeker and Kurt A. Raaflaub

The transformation of Athens in the fifth century / Kurt A. Raaflaub

Accounting for culture in fifth-century Athens / Lisa Kallet

Beyond democracy and empire: Athenian art in context / Ian Morris

Democracy, empire, and art: toward a politics of time and narrative / Eric Csapo and Margaret Miller

Autochthony and the visual arts in fifth-century Athens / H. Alan Shapiro

Images and political identity: the case of Athens / Tonio Hölscher

Presenting the past in fifth-century Athens / Deborah Boedeker

The sophists in Athens / Robert W. Wallace

The constraints of democracy and the rise of the art of rhetoric / Harvey Unis

Democracy and Sokratic-Platonic philosophy / Christopher Rowe

Attic old comedy, frank speech, and democracy / Jeffrey Henderson

Tragedy and politics / Suzanne Saïd

The panathenaic procession: Athens' participatory democracy on display? / Lisa Maurizio

Reflections and conclusions: democracy, empire, and the arts in fifth-century Athens / Deborah Boedeker and Kurt A. Raaflaub.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 427-492) and index.

ISBN:

0674197690

OCLC:

38886028