sign in sign up
<<
Home , Theatre of Dionysus

Illustrations and Maps

1 The , the Propylaea and the Erechtheum, , built in the fifth century b.c. Photo © AISA/Bridgeman Images. 2 View of the from the Observatory. ASCS. 3 Reconstruction of Athens, fifth century b.c., after drawing by Ru Dièn-Jen. 4 , marble portrait bust, Roman copy of an earlier Greek original, second century. © The Trustees of the . 5 View of the of from the . White Images/Scala, Florence. 6 , Roman copy of an early Hellenistic portrait statue. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, photo by Ole Haupt. 7 , statue from Pisoni’s villa at Herculaneum, , Archaeological Museum. Photo by Sailko. 8 , marble portrait bust, Vatican. Photo Scala, Florence. 9 , herm, Vatican. Photo Scala, Florence. 10 , marble portrait bust, Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonio Salinas. DeAgostini Picture Library/Scala, Florence. 11 Detail from a kylix by the Kleomelos Painter depicting a male athlete with discus, c. 510–500 b.c. Musée du Louvre, collection of Giampietro Campana di Cavelli, purchased 1861. 12 Kylix by the Tarquinia Painter depicting a symposium with female entertainers, c. 470–460 b.c. © Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig/A. Voegelin. 13 Terracotta lekythos attributed to the Amasis Painter depicting women weaving, c. 550–530 b.c. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1931 (31.11.10). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 14 Red-figured hydria depicting a woman reading with three attendants, c. 450 b.c. © The Trustees of the British Museum. vi ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS vii

15 Terracotta hydria attributed to the Class of Hamburg depicting women collecting water at a fountain house, c. 510–500 b.c. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1906 (06.1021.77). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Maps page 1. The Walled City of Athens. xiii 2. Mainland Greece. xiv 3. Greece and the Athenian Empire (shaded). xv 4. . xvi

1. The Acropolis, the imposing citadel of Athens, site of some of the most splendid architectural masterpieces of the Periclean building programme of the 440s and 430s, notably the majestic Doric temple to Athena, the Parthenon, and the monumental entrance to the Acropolis, the Propylaea.

2. The Pynx was a gently sloping hill south-west of the and was the meeting place of the Assembly from c. 460 b.c. onwards. Previously the Assembly had normally met in the Agora. The site was radically reconstructed c. 400 b.c., creating a fully enclosed and enlarged theatre-shaped space with seating for about 6,000. Citizens could sit where they wished: all had equal status. 3. At the centre of Athens lay the Agora, situated mid-way between the Acropolis and the city’s main gate, the Dipylon. It was the civic centre, market place and meeting place, home of the lawcourts, the Council and the military leadership. Its colonnaded buildings (Stoa) gave space for the posting of public notices and informal gatherings. It was overlooked by three notable landmarks that had great significance in the life of the democracy – the Acropolis to the southeast, the Pnyx to the southwest, and in between the Hill, meeting place of the Council of the Areopagus.

4. Pericles (c. 495–429), high-born and highly educated, and a gifted orator and able military commander, dominated Athenian politics for more than thirty years. He was the architect of the final stage of the democratisation of Athens and the consolidation of the Athenian empire, but was also largely responsible for leading Athens into the ill- fated Peloponnesian War. 5. The Theatre of Dionysus, situated on the southern slope of the Acropolis, was the home of Greek drama, both tragedy and comedy. There were dramatic performances on this site from the late sixth century. The theatre was significantly rebuilt in the Periclean era, and was upgraded in stone by Lycurgus in the 330s so as to be able to accommodate 17,000 spectators. Drama was a central part of and an important part of Athenian life, an experience shared by the whole population and organised by the state, with the production costs borne by wealthier citizens, one of the functions (liturgies) they were obliged to undertake.

6. Demosthenes (384–322 b.c.) was the son of a prosperous manufacturer. He ranks among the greatest of Athenian orators, and became a highly influential political leader in the 340s. He was a tireless advocate of war against Philip of Macedonia, a policy that brought defeat for Athens and sowed the seeds of the downfall of the democracy.

7. Aeschines (c. 397–322 b.c.) came from humble origins. He had spent time as a tragic actor, had an exceptional voice and became a highly efficient orator, a rival and bitter opponent of Demosthenes and an advocate of peace with Philip. Demosthenes prosecuted him for treason in 343, which led to a memorable encounter between the leading orators of the day. Aeschines was narrowly acquitted, but his influence waned and he largely withdrew from politics, and eventually retired to . 8. Socrates (c. 470–322 b.c.), son of a stonemason, one of the most brilliant minds and memorable personalities of antiquity, changed the emphasis and character of Greek philosophy, focusing on ethical issues and the search for universal definitions of the morally right through the use of dialectics and inductive reasoning. His close association with many of the radical young aristocrats of his day led to his prosecution in 399, mainly on a charge of corrupting the youth. He was convicted and sentenced to death.

9. Plato (c. 428–347 b.c.), devoted pupil of Socrates and another towering intellect, founded a school, the Academy, on the outskirts of Athens, to provide advanced education in science and philosophy. His voluminous writings, focused on metaphysics, ethics and politics, have had a profound and lasting impact on Western thought. A severe critic of democracy, he believed statesmanship was an art that required profound knowledge of what was good for the individual and the state, wisdom only attainable by the highly gifted and the highly educated. The idea of government by the unlettered, unreasoning multitude was anathema to him. 10. Aristotle (384–322 b.c.) was a native of Stagira in Chalcidice. He came to Athens in 367 as a student in Plato’s Academy and remained there as student and scholar until Plato’s death in 347. Later he was tutor to , but returned to Athens in 335 to found his own school, the . He was a polymath, scientist as well as philosopher, an empiricist who relied on hard evidence rather than solely theoretical speculation. His influence has been pervasive, extending to Islamic as well as Christian thought. After Alexander’s death in 323, anti-Macedonian feeling in Athens caused him to leave the city. He died a year later in Chalcis.

11. Throwing the discus and javelin were major features of Greek athletic contests, along with running, wrestling and chariot-racing. These contests were the centrepiece of the four great Panhellenic Festivals – the Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian and – when panhellenism temporarily took hold, all hostilities were suspended, and Greeks joined together in celebrating athletic prowess.

12. The symposium was a drinking party following a meal, a common feature of the social life of the male upper classes. It took place in a separate room of the house known as the andron, the men’s quarter. Wives were excluded, but it was common to have female entertainment, musical or sexual, provided by courtesans. 13. Spinning and weaving were part of the household duties of Athenian women. In ’s dialogue on household management, the Oeconomicus, turning wool into clothing is listed as one of the responsibilities of the wife. In wealthier families, slaves likely did the work under the supervision of the mistress of the household. There was also a cloth-manufacturing industry that would have provided some of the needs of the wealthy.

14. It is difficult to determine the level of literacy in , especially among women. The sources are largely silent about the education of women, but the general attitude towards them and their role in society suggests few received any significant amount of formal education. But the evidence of vase painting, such as this one, indicates that at least some upper-class women were literate.

15. Many Athenian houses had wells or cisterns in the courtyard for collecting rainwater. But water, presumably for drinking, was also collected from fountain houses. It was a standard task of women, one of the few occasions when they got out of the house and could enjoy female company. The south-east fountain house in the Agora was a major infrastructural development of the era of Peisistratus, giving the city piped potable water for the first time. Acknowledgements

This book has been long in gestation and I am indebted to the many people who helped along the way. I began work on the book during a semester as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in 2002. I received warm hospitality at the Institution, and learned a great deal from the impressive gathering of experts there in modern democracy, who were very eager to discuss democracy’s beginning and the Athenian experience. I got great stimulus and many insights from my time among them. The work continued at Trinity College Dublin, where I received valuable help from my classical colleagues, in particular Brian McGing, who read the entire text of an early draft, and whose broad knowledge of the subject saved me from many errors and identified many ways in which the book could be more sharply focused and improved. I am also grateful to my colleague Christine Morris, who helped with selection of the illustrations used in the book. The reviewing process by Yale University Press was the most thorough and helpful that I have experienced. The readers, whose expertise was clearly evident, provided detailed, constructive critiques which indicated where more work was needed and where improvements could be made. I am very grateful to them for the time and effort they devoted to making this a better book. I also want to thank my publisher at the Press, Heather McCallum, for her efficiency, graciousness and supportive attitude at all stages of the process. Special thanks are also due to my daughter- in- law, Leone Mitchell, who prepared the manuscript and proved a most able research assistant. But my greatest debt is owed to my wife, Lynn, and I want to thank her for her patience and encouragement during the writing of this book, and for her unfailing support throughout my professional career. I dedicate this book to her and to our four children, Noel, Sean, Kevin and Tara, who have brought us great happiness. viii