Festivals of the Athenians

by H.W. Parke

A descriptive study of the religious festivals of the ancient Athenians, depicting and explaining the behavior associated with each, speculating on what happened at the mysteries, and elucidating the primitivism that pervaded classical Greek thought

Genres: Spirituality

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1977

About the author

Herbert William Parke was Professor of Ancient History, Trinity College, University of Dublin, 1934–73, and a contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Reviews

[Terence Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reference on the subject. The bulk of the book is organized by the Athenian calendar, with a chapter devoted to each month and the festivals held therein. There are plenty of illustrative plates, a map of the major Athenian sanctuaries and a vital table laying out the Athenian calendar of festivals. It can be a little hard to follow the text sometimes and to relate one part of the book to another. This problem might have been alleviated by a thematic overview of the festivals and how they fit into the cult of the individual gods and the Athenian religion in general. (The introduction partly answers that need.) Still, it does a thorough job of doing what it set out to do.

[Paul H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curious marriage of form and content -- fascinating stuff (for both historians and theologians), and possibly the driest and most boring-academic-type prose in recorded history.