The Panathenaic Festival

Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens by Jenifer Neils
Review by: M. P. J. Dillon
Source: The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 44, No. 1 (1994), pp. 91-92
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/712241
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 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 91
each of the Greek words, particularlyfor the last of the three.These are however
merelyproblemsof translation- the commentaryis not subjectto this criticism.
Universityof Manchester G. B. KERFERD

THE PANATHENAIC FESTIVAL

JENIFER NEILS (ed.): Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival

in Ancient Athens. Pp. 227, figs and plates. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1993. $49.50 (Paper, $19.95).
This volumewas publishedto accompanythe exhibition'Goddess and Polis: The
PanathenaicFestivalin AncientAthens' whichwas organisedby the Hood Museum
of Art in 1992.Thereare six essays,and a catalogueof the exhibition.
JeniferNeils, the editor, contributestwo essays (as well as the cataloguefor the
exhibition). 'The Panathenaia:an Introduction' (pp. 13-27) and 'Panathenaic
Amphoras:their Meaning, Makers and Markets' (pp. 29-52). There is a sound
introductionto the festivalin the former,and good summariesof the main features
of Panathenaicvasesin the latter.The discussion(p. 44) of the sacredolive treesand
the death-sentenceimposedon thosefound guiltyof harmingthemneedsto mention
the commutingof this sentenceby the fourthcenturyB.C.([Arist.]Ath. Pol. 60; see
also Lysias7).
H. A. Shapiro 'Mousikoi Agones: Music and Poetry at the Panathenaia'(pp.
53-75) providesa particularlyusefulessay, as it bringsto the attentionof the reader
a feature,music, which is often overlooked.D. G. Kyle 'The PanathenaicGames:
Sacredand CivicAthletics'(pp. 77-101),correctlynotesthat the PanathenaicGames
deservemore attention than they have had to date, and he providesa clear and
concisetreatmentof them.The statementthat the gameswere'both an ethnocentric
and internationalfestivalopen to all Greeks'(p. 80), and the essay in general,tend
to suggestthatthe Panathenaicgameshad the samestatusas Panhellenicfestivals,yet
this does not seem to have been the case. The chapteris admirablyreferenced,with
only a few omissions:'the state legallyregulatedboth gymnasiaand palaestraeto
some degree'(p. 81), and on p. 82 for continuoustraining(Paus.5.24.9),for which
Paus. 6.23.1-2 (cf. 6.24.3)could also have been cited. Thereare succinctsummaries
of the Panathenaicsportingevents.
E. J. W. Barber 'The Peplos of Athena' (pp. 103-17) provides a clear and
interestingdiscussionof weavingmethods,but the sectionon the Panathenaicpeplos
itself, giventhat it is the Panathenaiawhichis underdiscussion,ought to have been
longer. BrunildeS. Ridgway,'Images of Athena on the Akropolis' (pp. 119-42),
dealswith Athenaand her variousaspectsin a lucidand detaileddiscussion.At Plut.
Per. 13.12it is a techniteswho fell from the roof, not a slave (p. 137).
Perhapsthe collectionas a whole might have benefitedfrom some comparisons,
albeitbrief,withotherfestivals.For example,the boule's(theuse of Boulestrikesone
as unnecessary)corruptionat p. 17 in the choosingof designsfor the Panathenaic
peploscouldpossiblyhavebeencontrastedwithcorruptionamongstthe hellanodikai
at Olympia(Paus.6.3.7;cf. 6.1.4-5, Hdt.2.160.1-4).Thiscorruptionshouldbe cross-
referencedto p. 113,whereit is also mentioned(the collectionwouldhave benefited
by more cross-referencing betweenthe essays). Barberrefersto the argumentsof
Mansfield(unpublishedPhD) that therewas a peploswoven annuallyfor Athena's

? Oxford University Press, 1994

4 OCR44

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 92 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW
cult statue, and a larger one every Great Panathenaia for the ship used in the
Panathenaic procession. Ridgway also has a general discussion of Mansfield's thesis
(p. 123), which is repetitive - it would have been better for one author to have dealt
with this aspect in detail. There are too many references to Mansfield's unpublished
work, especially when it is cited in lieu of the ancient evidence itself (i.e. p. 209 n. 23).
A feature of the essays is that the use of the pieces in the well-presented and
interesting catalogue (pp. 143-91) is somewhat limited; the work would have been
stronger if the pieces in the exhibition had been the focus of the essays; as it is, there
is no extensive interaction between the two parts of the work, the essays and the
catalogue. Given the large format of the volume, the arrangement of the notes for the
essays towards the back of the volume is more of a nuisance than usual.
The essays are readable, and should suit a general audience, but will also be useful
to undergraduates,as well as specialists who can skip over the sections of introductory
material. The suggestions for further reading, and the (generally) full referencesin the
footnotes, will prove valuable for even the specialist reader. All of the technical terms
that I noticed were glossed, contributing greatly to the readability of this volume;
there is also a separate glossary. The transliterations of Greek terms followed the
middle path on the whole, avoiding some of the jarring excesses of strict transliteration
which are unfortunately proliferating nowadays. The archaeological and epigraphic
evidence is dealt with in a way which non-specialists will find easy to follow. The
quality of the full-page colour photographs of the main exhibition pieces is high, and
there are small black and white photographs of other pieces in the catalogue. There
are numerous black and white photographs of non-exhibition material, diagrams,
and figures throughout the text. The index is helpful.
Any criticisms of this volume are minor compared with the usefulness of these
essays, and this collection provides a valuable contribution to Panathenaic studies,
especially to anyone interested in the Panathenaia and related subjects.
University of New England, Australia M. P. J. D I L L O N

PAST TENSES

WOLFGANGKLUG: Erzahlstrukturals Kunstform.Studien zur

kiunstlerischen
Funktionder Erzahltemporaim Lateinischenund im
Griechischen.Pp. 206. Heidelberg:ManutiusVerlag, 1992. DM 98.
We are, I suspect, brought up to regard the Perfect in Latin and the Aorist in Greek
as the ' normal' tenses of narrative in past time. In fact, both languages use a variety
of tenses in narration, and, at any rate in formal historical prose, alternate constantly
between them, even within the space of a few lines or within the same sentence. The
differences between the various tenses, and the semantic or stylistic reasons for
choosing one or another, have been explored in specialist literature, but little of this
appears to have filtered down to the level of the 'classicist in the street' (in which
category the present reviewer happily includes himself), who tends to appreciate these
things either by vague instinct or not at all. However, there are some fairly clear
principles to be seen at work in Latin and Greek authors' choice of narrative tenses,
and the resources of the two languages provide considerable scope for skilful
organisation of narrative; an analysis of the use of tenses is indispensable for a full
appreciation of the artistry of Latin and Greek narrative prose.
? Oxford University Press, 1994

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