What was childhood like in ancient Greece? What activities and games did Greek children embrace? How were they schooled and what religious and ceremonial rites of passage were key to their development? These fascinating questions and many more are answered in this groundbreaking book-the first English-language study to feature and discuss imagery and artifacts relating to childhood in ancient Greece. Coming of Age in Ancient Greece shows that the Greeks were the first culture to represent children and their activities naturalistically in their art. Here we learn about depictions of children in myth as well as life, from infancy to adolescence. This beautifully illustrated book features such archaeological artifacts as toys and gaming pieces alongside images of them in use by children on ancient vases, coins, terracotta figurines, bronze and stone sculpture, and marble grave monuments. Essays by eminent scholars in the fields of Greek social history, literature, archaeology, anthropology, and art history discuss a wide range of topics, including the burgeoning role of childhood studies in interdisciplinary studies; the status of children in Greek culture; the evolution of attitudes toward children from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period as documented by literature and art; the relationships of fathers and sons and mothers and daughters; and the roles of cult practice and death in a child's existence. This delightful book illuminates what is most universal and specific about childhood in ancient Greece and examines childhood's effects on Greek life and culture, the foundation on which Western civilization has been based.

Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past

Oakley, John H.

Neils, Jenifer

Arts & Photography

Yale University Press

What was childhood like in ancient Greece? What activities and games did Greek children embrace? How were they schooled and what religious and ceremonial rites of passage were key to their development? These fascinating questions and many more are answered in this groundbreaking book―the first English-language study to feature and discuss imagery and artifacts relating to childhood in ancient Greece.Coming of Age in Ancient Greece showsthat the Greeks were the first culture to represent children and their activities naturalistically in their art. Here we learn about depictions of children in myth as well as life, from infancy to adolescence. This beautifully illustrated book features such archaeological artifacts as toys and gaming pieces alongside images of them in use by children on ancient vases, coins, terracotta figurines, bronze and stone sculpture, and marble grave monuments. Essays by eminent scholars in the fields of Greek social history, literature, archaeology, anthropology, and art history discuss a wide range of topics, including the burgeoning role of childhood studies in interdisciplinary studies; the status of children in Greek culture; the evolution of attitudes toward children from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period as documented by literature and art; the relationships of fathers and sons and mothers and daughters; and the roles of cult practice and death in a child’s existence.This delightful book illuminates what is most universal and specific about childhood in ancient Greece and examines childhood’s effects on Greek life and culture, the foundation on which Western civilization has been based.

History & Criticism

This lively and accessible book draws on the latest discoveries and research and presents a concise and readable overview of the fascinating history of ancient Greece, from its earliest origins through to its legacy in the modern world. Designed with the nonspecialist in mind, the book begins with the rediscovery of the Classical Greeks. The author then traces their evolution from Bronze Age civilizations through the emergence of the city state, discussing topics such as writing and art, government and philosophy, warfare and hunting, trade and colonization, gods and heroes, entertainments, and domestic life. Additional information is highlighted in special feature boxes throughout the text. 
With over 170 illustrations of ancient Greek art and culture as well as extensive reference material and recommendations for further reading, the British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Greece will appeal to a wide range of general readers, museum visitors, undergraduate students and life-long learners. 
Jenifer Neils is Ruth Coutler Heede Professor of Art History at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. A scholar of Greek art and archaeology, she organized the exhibition "Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens" and edited the exhibition catalogue. She is also the author of The Youthful Deeds of Theseus and The Parthenon Frieze.

The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Greece

History

Ancient Civilizations

University of Michigan Press

While the sculpted Ionic frieze of the Parthenon with its galloping horsemen and classically portrayed gods is reproduced in every art history text and has been much studied by scholars, no single book has yet been devoted to all its myriad aspects. This study by classical archaeologist and art historian Jenifer Neils breaks new ground by considering all aspects of this complex and controversial monument. Although the frieze has been studied for over two hundred years, most scholarship has sought an overall interpretation of the iconography rather than focusing on the sculpture's visual language, essential for a full understanding of the narrative. Neils' study not only decodes the language of the frieze, but also analyzes its conception and design, style and content, as well as its impact on later art. Unusual for its wide-ranging approach to the frieze, this book also brings ethical reasoning to bear on the issue of its possible repatriation as part of the on-going Elgin Marble debate. As one of the foremost examples of the high classical style and the finest expression of mid-fifth century Athenian ideology, the Parthenon frieze is without doubt one of the major monuments of western civilization, and as such deserves to be understood in all its dimensions. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a virtual reality Macromedia Director movie of the complete frieze, based on the plaster casts in the Skulpturhalle in Basel, Switzerland. Developed by Rachel Rosenzweig of the Department of Greek and Roman Art of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the casts are arranged in conformity with Neils' reconstruction and enable the user to view them in succession, as if walking around the Parthenon. The CD-ROM requires a computer running either MAC OS 8.01 or later, or Windows 95 or later.

The Parthenon Frieze

Cambridge University Press

Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens

While the Olympics, because of their modern revival, enjoy the greatest fame today, in ancient Greece other religious festivals were equally elaborate and impressive spectacles. The lavishly illustrated Goddess and Polis is the first work devoted to the Panathenaia, the most significant of these festivals to be held in ancient Athens. Founded in 566 B.C., this complex ritual performed for the goddess Athena vied with other Greek festivals in grandeur and importance and was particularly distinguished by the works of art commissioned in its service. Among these were the painted vases known as Panathenaic amphoras, each of which contained forty liters of olive oil, awarded to athletic and equestrian victors. The contests depicted on these vases are the best extant illustrations of Greek sport. Although women were excluded from the competitions, they had an important role to play in the weaving of the peplos, an elaborate textile that took nine months to produce. The culmination of the festival was a long procession bearing this new robe to the cult statue of the goddess; the procession in turn was the subject of another great work of art, the Parthenon frieze. Combining art, spectacle, and civic consciousness, the Panathenaia contributed to the development of the high classical style of Periklean Athens. This book deals with every aspect of the festival and produces a vivid portrait of the worship of the patron goddess of the city. Essays by eminent classical scholars examine in depth the musical and poetic competitions, the athletic and equestrian contests, the peplos, and the evolving image of Athena as documented in sculpture from the Acropolis. Jenifer Neils, the curator of the exhibition Goddess and Polis, held at the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, has contributed an introduction to the Panathenaia, an essay on the prize amphoras, and detailed entries for the seventy objects exhibited.

Princeton University Press

This attractive book presents a general introduction to the Greater Panathenaia, the week-long religious and civic festival held at Athens every four years in honor of the city’s patron goddess, Athena. The highlight of the city’s festival calendar, with its musical, athletic, and equestrian contests, tribal events, processions, sacrifices, and other activities, the Greater Panathenaia involved all the residents of Athens; not just adult males but women, children, metics (resident aliens), foreigners, and even slaves. The facilities, administration, program events, prizes, and associated monuments are described.

The Games at Athens (Agora Picture Book)

Tracy, Stephen V.

American School of Classical Studies at Athens

The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland Landmarks Pr

This book takes a fresh look at visual representations of women in the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and analyzes them for indications of women’s roles in these societies. After examining their traditional functions as wives and mothers, the author presents evidence of women’s participation in the public and religious spheres. Juxtapositions comparing images and attitudes of each society reveal whether the women portrayed are meant to be examples of perfect femininity or the object of scorn, faithful wives or untouchable priestesses or high-living prostitutes. Depictions of goddesses and the dress and adornments of women are analyzed for what they divulge about ideals of feminine beauty and attitudes toward female nudity. The text is packed with quotations from contemporary sources that reveal details about women in the ancient world, often with surprising resonance for our own time. The illustrations, many specially commissioned, include public art and domestic artifacts: sculptures, wall and mummy case paintings, engravings, silver objects, and jewelry.

Women in the Ancient World

J.paul Getty Museum

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Neils, Jenifer. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Neils, Jenifer

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Neils, Jenifer. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past

Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past

The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Greece

The Parthenon Frieze

The Parthenon Frieze

Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens

Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens

The Games at Athens (Agora Picture Book)

The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art

Women in the Ancient World