The Classical Parthenon Recovering the Strangeness of the Ancient World
st. clair, william
The Classical Parthenon Recovering the Strangeness of the Ancient World - Cambridge Open Book Publishers 2022 - 1 electronic resource (344 p.)
Open Access
Complementing Who Saved the Parthenon? this companion volume sets aside more recent narratives surrounding the Athenian Acropolis, supposedly 'the very symbol of democracy itself', instead asking if we can truly access an ancient past imputed with modern meaning. And, if so, how? In this book William St Clair presents a reconstructed understanding of the Parthenon from within the classical Athenian worldview. He explores its role and meaning by weaving together a range of textual and visual sources into two innovative oratorical experiments - a speech in the style of Thucydides and a first-century CE rhetorical exercise - which are used to develop a narrative analysis of the temple structure, revealing a strange story of indigeneity, origins, and empire. The Classical Parthenon offers new answers to old questions, such as the riddle of the Parthenon frieze, and provides a framing device for the wider relationship between visual artefacts, built heritage, and layers of accumulated cultural rhetoric. This groundbreaking and pertinent work will appeal across the disciplines to readers interested in the classics, art history, and the nature of history, while also speaking to a general audience that is interrogating the role of monuments in contemporary society.
Creative Commons
English
9781800643444 9781800643451 9781800643475 9781800643482 9781800643499 9781800646780 OBP.0279
10.11647/OBP.0279 doi
Greece
Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900
Social groups
Athenian Acropolis;classical Athenian worldview;narrative analysis;Parthenon;symbol of democracy;temple structure
The Classical Parthenon Recovering the Strangeness of the Ancient World - Cambridge Open Book Publishers 2022 - 1 electronic resource (344 p.)
Open Access
Complementing Who Saved the Parthenon? this companion volume sets aside more recent narratives surrounding the Athenian Acropolis, supposedly 'the very symbol of democracy itself', instead asking if we can truly access an ancient past imputed with modern meaning. And, if so, how? In this book William St Clair presents a reconstructed understanding of the Parthenon from within the classical Athenian worldview. He explores its role and meaning by weaving together a range of textual and visual sources into two innovative oratorical experiments - a speech in the style of Thucydides and a first-century CE rhetorical exercise - which are used to develop a narrative analysis of the temple structure, revealing a strange story of indigeneity, origins, and empire. The Classical Parthenon offers new answers to old questions, such as the riddle of the Parthenon frieze, and provides a framing device for the wider relationship between visual artefacts, built heritage, and layers of accumulated cultural rhetoric. This groundbreaking and pertinent work will appeal across the disciplines to readers interested in the classics, art history, and the nature of history, while also speaking to a general audience that is interrogating the role of monuments in contemporary society.
Creative Commons
English
9781800643444 9781800643451 9781800643475 9781800643482 9781800643499 9781800646780 OBP.0279
10.11647/OBP.0279 doi
Greece
Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900
Social groups
Athenian Acropolis;classical Athenian worldview;narrative analysis;Parthenon;symbol of democracy;temple structure