The Wedding in Ancient Athens
by John Howard Oakley, Rebecca H. Sinos
Category: Social Science

"The Wedding in Ancient Athens is the first book to reconstruct the stages of the ancient Greek wedding ceremony using a long-neglected source of information: vase paintings from the sixth through fourth centuries B.C." "In order to elucidate the entire ceremony, from the preparations for the wedding to the rituals performed on the day after the wedding night, John H. Oakley and Rebecca H. Sinos incorporate copious illustrations of Athenian vases in their analysis, supplementing evidence drawn from contemporary Greek literature. The weddings rendered on the vases evolve through time, from formal scenes of the wedding procession on black-figure vases to later red-figure scenes offering more intimate views of the bride as she prepares her adornments. In these later scenes, the authors point out, Greek women appear as more than just passive objects of men's manipulations; they possess their own powerful and divinely sanctioned means of seduction." "The evidence of wedding scenes on vases of both eras is valuable for several reasons. Some vases depict aspects of the wedding that are not clearly portrayed in literature, thus supplying a better understanding of each stage of the ceremony. Vases also offer insight into Athenian attitudes toward the wedding, suggesting a perspective different from that provided by Greek literature. The book includes scenes that represent real life, scenes that are clearly mythological, and also some tableaux that blur the distinction between mortals and gods or heroes, suggesting the idealized state in which mortals appeared when engaged in rituals with divine prototypes." "The Wedding in Ancient Athens is as enjoyable as it is informative. Oakley and Sinos thoroughly explore Athenian wedding iconography and interpret it so that the ceremony can be appreciated by a modern audience."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved