The art of libation in classical Athens / Milette Gaifman.

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2018]

©2018

1 online resource (ix, 184 pages) : 130 color illustrations

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"This ... volume presents an innovative look at the imagery of libations, the most commonly depicted ritual in ancient Greece, and how it engaged viewers in religious performance. In a libation, liquid (water, wine, milk, oil, or honey) was poured from a vessel such as a jug or a bowl onto the ground, an altar, or another surface. Libations were made on occasions like banquets, sacrifices, oath-taking, departures to war, and visitations to tombs, and their iconography provides essential insight into religious and social life in 5th-century BC Athens. Scenes depicting the ritual often involved beholders directly, a statue's gaze might establish the onlooker as a fellow participant, or painted vases could draw parallels between human practices and acts of gods or heroes. Illustrated with a broad range of examples, including the Caryatids at the Acropolis, the Parthenon Frieze, Attic red-figure pottery, and funerary sculpture, this ... book demonstrates the power of Greek art to transcend the boundaries between visual representation and everyday experience"--Publisher's description.

Print version: Gaifman, Milette, 1971- Art of libation in classical Athens

Books / Online

English

March 21, 2022

Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-179) and index.

History.

Yale University Press, publisher.