Worshipping Athena
Panathenaia & Parthenon
Edited by Jenifer Neils
264 Pages, ISBN 978 0 299 15114 0
Published by the University of Wisconsin Press, 1996
The foremost religious festival of ancient Athens - the city dedicated to
Athena, goddess of war, fertility, arts, and wisdom - was the Panathenaia.
Challenging old assumptions and refuting new theories, Worshipping
Athena addresses the many problems of interpretation and understanding
that have swirled for years around the Parthenon frieze, perhaps the best
known but least understood work of Greek art. For centuries the frieze has
been thought to represent the Panathenaia procession, but recently the
argument has been advanced that it depicts the sacrifice of the daughters of
the Athenian king Erechtheus. Worshipping Athena offers compelling
evidence that the frieze does indeed depict the festal procession and also
demonstrates that scenes of contemporary ritual were not unique to the Parthenon.
Editor Jenifer Neils and the contributors - eminent classicists, archaeologists,
and art historians - explore the role of the Panathenaia in Athenian
life and compare it with similar festivals held throughout the ancient Greek
world. They discuss such topics as the Panathenaia's mythical origins, the
phenomenon of the festival's valuable prizes (oil-filled amphoras, rather
than the customary laurel wreath), and the architecture, sculpture, and
painting related to the festival.
Worshipping Athena will provide valuable insights to scholars and
students concerned with ancient religion, mythology, art, literature, and
gender issues, as well as anyone with a keen interest in the ritual topography of
the Athenian Acropolis and the iconography of the Parthenon frieze.
"A superb presentation of a subject central tot classical archaeology... All the
chapters will be of great interest to scholars, and particularly to students, as
the represent up-to-date treatments of enduring problems."
- William R. Biers, University of Missouri - Columbia
Jenifer Neils is professor and chair of art history at Case Western Reserve
University. She organized the exhibition Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic
Festival in Ancient Athens in 1992 and edited the accompanying catalog.
(The text above comes from the back of the book)
