Civic Rites: Democracy and Religion in Ancient Athens

Suggested Further Readings by Chapter

References to inscriptions are given according to item numbers in Fornara’s translated sourcebook: Archaic Times to the End of the Peloponnesian War (1983). chapter one primary The literary sources for studying Athens (and Greece in general) before the fifth century are notoriously scanty. The Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides , too, were interested in this era, and they provide accounts for some of the more important events. The Constitution of the Athenians, or Athenaion Politeia, attributed to Aristotle (possibly written by one of his students) also preserves some of the ancient traditions that were gleaned from sources available during the fourth century bce, but since lost. secondary Archaeological evidence brings many insights to this period. Camp 2001 gives an excellent overview. Connolly 1998 presents lively illustrated reconstructions of the ancient city that convey contemporary archaeologists’ conclusions in accessible visual form. Travlos 1980 and 1988 catalogue the principal sites in both Athens and Attica and give bibliography for each. Polignac 1995 situates Athens 2 5 1 suggested further readings by chapter 2 5 2 s u g g e s t e d f u r t h e r r e a d i n g s b y c h a p t e r amid its neighbors in the larger landscape of Greece. Osborne 2000 is a straightforward handbook on ancient Greece with chapters on basic topics; Osborne 1985 is a more detailed scholarly study about early Attica and the political relationship of the countryside to the city. Fornara and Samons 1991 covers the evidence for Athens and the traditions of scholarship in considerable detail. Connor 1987 offers provocative reading for some of the earliest stories from Athens. Hanson 2000 gives a full treatment of ancient hoplite warfare. Raaflaub, Ober, and Wallace 2007 presents current interpretations of modern scholars who continue to discuss the origins of democracy in Athens. chapter two primary The primary evidence for studying religion in Athens is not concentrated in any one particular text. Two of the earliest important literary discussions of animal sacrifice are related to the story of Prometheus and the original mythic sacrifice at Mekone: Hesiod Works and Days 47–105 and Theogony 535–60. secondary This chapter owes the most to the innovative synthetic work of Walter Burkert (esp. Burkert 1983 and 1985), and the detailed studies of Robert Parker (1983, 1996, 2005). Bremmer 1994 brings Burkert 1985 a bit more up to date. Boedeker 2007 offers a good introduction to religion in Athens, as do Mikalson 1983 and 2005, Zaidman and Pantel 1992, and Price 1999. Connor 1988 and Evans 2004 succinctly bring together polis and cult, and Sourvinou-Inwood 2000 presents provocative arguments on polis religion in general. Humphreys 2004 is provocative and worthwhile, and gives a good review of modern ways of understanding Greek religion. On the Panathenaea see Neils 1992 and 1996; Camp 2001 discusses Athenian monuments and their part in festivals. Van Straten’s 1995 volume documents sacrifice through images on vase painting, and Rosivach 1994 examines evidence for the entire system of sacrifice. On the civic calendars and festivals, see Simon 1983, Parke 1977, and Mikalson 1975. Garland 1990 discusses priests and priesthoods in depth, and Flower 2008 documents well the role of priests and prophets, especially in fourth-century Greece. Gager 1992 and Graf 1997 are good places to start for those interested in magic in the ancient world. On cultural and religious interactions between East and West, see Burkert 1992 and 2004, and West 1997. Garnsey 1999 discusses patterns surrounding food, social status, and nutrition. 2 5 3 s u g g e s t e d f u r t h e r r e a d i n g s b y c h a p t e r chapter three primary Herodotus, books 5–8, documents the Ionian Revolt and the Persian invasions of 490 and 480. Thucydides, books 1 and 2, narrates the period between the Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War and the first two years of fighting. Plutarch Pericles preserves some important anecdotes on this period. A fourth-century Attic inscription recording the Oath of Plataea is found in Fornara 57. The sources for the Oath of Plataea are late, preserved by this inscription and the fourth-century orator Lycurgus. Some modern historians doubt its authenticity and believe it may be a fourth-century Athenian invention. secondary This narrative...