1997
First Published
3.89
Average Rating
400
Number of Pages
The luxury of the ancient world is legendary, but the Athenian reputation is sober because this wealthy, successful city-state spent all its money on the conspicuous consumption of ephemeral things. Their consuming passions for food, wine and sex drove their society, as well as generating the rich web of privilege, transgression, guilt and taboo for which they are remembered today. Using pamphlets, comic satires, forensic speeches - from authors as illustrious as Plato and as ignored as Philaenis - as source material - this study combines a traditional classicist's rigour with an appreciation of the new analytical techniques pioneered in gender and cultural studies to provide an alternative view of ancient Athenian culture and to bring its reality into a focus easier on the modern eye.
Avg Rating
3.89
Number of Ratings
569
5 STARS
29%
4 STARS
39%
3 STARS
25%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
2%
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Author
James Davidson
Author · 3 books
British historian
