Table of Contents

Introduction: vase painting and the symposium in Athens; 1. Ancient visions of the sympotic past; 2. Symposia of the primitive; 3. Eros, service, and the oinochoos; 4. The symposium and its foreign pasts; 5. Female symposiasts and the limits of civilization; 6. Symposia of the present?; Conclusion: vase painting and the construction of the sympotic past.

Promotional Information

This book explores what it meant to be a Greek community and how Athenians thought about past and present.

About the Author

Kathryn Topper was educated at Bryn Mawr College and Harvard University. She is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Washington. She has held fellowships from the Center for Hellenic Studies, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, the American Journal of Archaeology and Hesperia.

Reviews

'… a timely reappraisal of the contents, meanings and effects of depictions of drinking on Athenian figured pottery.' Fiona Hobden, The Classical Review

'… [A] meticulously researched book … The overarching emphasis on the imagined 'pastness' of the symposium makes for a refreshing antidote to other recent approaches … This all makes for a great teaching resource - a carefully argued 'position-piece' backed up with sixty-four good-quality images.' Michael Squire, Anglo-Hellenic Review