Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC : A Study in Cultural Receptivity

by: Miller, M.C.

It is a commonplace of modern scholarship that the Athenians hated and despised the Persians, but the claims of contempt are disproved by the evidence of archaeology, epigraphy, iconography and literature, all of which reveal some facet of Athenian receptivity to Achaemenid Persian culture. The Athenian response was as richly complex as the spheres of interaction: both private and public, elite and sub-elite. It appears in pot shapes, clothing, luxurious display and monumental architecture. This innovative study, the first comprehensive collection of evidence pertaining to the relations between Athens and Persia in the fifth century BC, aims to make this evidence better known and in so doing to argue that the social culture of classical Athens was not the monolithic construct it might appear.

An innovative perspective on the study of classical Greece, opening new lines of research
First comprehensive collection of evidence about relations between Athens and Persia in the 5th century BC
Accessible evidence of classical archaeology and history to anthropologists and cultural historians interested in exchange and reception

Table of Contents
Introduction
Preface
Maps
Part I. Spheres of Contact:
1. Relations between Athenians and Persians to the late fifth century: an overview
2. Infusion and diffusion of alien goods: spoils of the Persian wars
3. Cultural exchange through trade
4. Zones of contact between Greeks and the Western Empire
5. Diplomatic exchange: visions of splendour
Part II. Perserie:
6. Persian gold and Attic clay
7. Incorporation of foreign items of dress
8. Metamorphosis of a luxury culture
9. The Odeion of Perikles and imperial expression
10. Perserie: Athenian receptivity to Achaemenid culture
Figures
Glossary
Bibliography
List of figures
Index.

Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC : A Study in Cultural Receptivity

by: Miller, M.C.

• ISBN-13: 9780521607582 / 978-0-521-60758-2
• ISBN-03: 0521607582 / 0-521-60758-2
• Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004