The Children of Athena
Athenian Ideas about Citizenship and the Division between the Sexes
Published on 28. August 1994
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-0-691-03762-2 (ISBN)
Description
According to one myth, the first Athenian citizen was born from the earth after the sperm of a rejected lover, the god Hephaistos, dripped off the virgin goddess Athena's leg and onto fertile soil. Henceforth Athenian citizens could claim to be truly indigenous to their city and to have divine origins that bypassed maternity. In these essays, the renowned French Hellenist Nicole Loraux examines the implication of this and other Greek origin myths as she explores how Athenians in the fifth century forged and maintained a collective identity.
Reviews / Votes
"[This] book is provocative, original, subtle, and scholarly, and offers important general lessons about the functioning of Athenian myth, religion, literature, and culture... This translation ... will certainly help more people to see ... why Loraux has achieved 'classic status' in [her field]."--Simon Goldhill, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "A manifesto for a historian's reading of myths in their civic contexts."--L'Histoire "... continues to occupy a central and provocative place in current discussion... The text is also admirably lucid and pleasant to read... The Children of Athena may be read with profit by anyone. To those who have not encountered it, I recommend it highly."--Charles W. Hedrick, Jr., Journal of the History of Sexuality "This is a great book of the historian's imagination, of the capacity to imagine how the players of a long-gone civilization thought and reacted... [A] brilliant book."--Quinzaine LittZraireMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
498 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-03762-2 (9780691037622)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Nicole Loraux
The Children of Athena
Athenian Ideas about Citizenship and the Division between the Sexes
E-Book
09/2021
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€66.49
Available for download