Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewUncovers remarkable and unsuspected depths in the works of such figures as Aristophanes and Plato. This is the most compelling and sophisticated study available of any single Athenian ritual and the most challenging to received notions about the wider role of religion in city-state society." - Richard P. Martin, Standford University
“[This] study of the Adonia as offering cultural critiques played out in specific texts is a major innovation. . . . A model for new readings of other seemingly marginal rites.”—Journal of Hellenic Studies
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments Abbreviations and References
- Introduction
- 1 Adonis and the Adonia: Trends in Representation, Ancient and Modern
- 2 Weddings: Stairway to Heaven
- 3 Funerals: Aristophanes's Adôniazousai
- 4 Philosophy: Gardening for Fun in Plato's Phaedrus
- Conclusion
- Figures
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
