Games and Festivals in Classical Antiquity: Proceedings of the Conference held in Edinburgh 10–12 July 2000: Proceedings of the Conference held in Edinburgh 10–12 July 2000

The Greek and Roman year were divided into festivals and games even more than our year is today. Politics and competition went together and the spectacle and even danger of games and sports spiced up the lives of Greek and Roman citizens. This volume presents fourteen papers, half of which originated at a conference held in Edinburgh in 2000, which examine the archaeological, material and documentary evidence for ancient sports and festivals, making comparison between Greek and Roman habits and placing the events in their political and religious setting. Subjects include: Minoan bull sports; the evidence of dance imagery; Pindar; chariot racing and politics in 5th-century Athens and Sophocles' Electra ; competitive Greek games; Dionysiac festivals in Aristophanes' Acharnians ; cock fighting and dicing in classical Athens; the festival of Artemis Leukophyrene; Roman games and Greek origins in Dionysius of Halicarnassus; epic and real games in Statius and Virgil; Roman naumachiae or naval battles in artifical basins; Dionysiac scenes on Oinophoroi vessels from Sagalassos; Christianising the celebrations of death in Late Antiquity; the portraits of champions in Palazzo Te. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Table of Contents Contributors List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter 1 Grasping the Bull by the Horns: Minoan Bull Sports Chapter 2 Festival? What Festival? Reading Dance Imagery as Evidence Chapter 3 Professional Foul: Persona in Pindar Chapter 4 Orestes the Contender: Chariot Racing and Politics in Fifth-Century Athens and Sophocles’ Electra Chapter 5 From Agônistês to Agônios: Hermes, Chaos and Conflict in Competitive Games and Festivals Chapter 6 Dionysiac Festivals in Aristophanes’ Acharnians Chapter 7 The Perils of Pittalakos: Settings of Cock Fighting and Dicing in Classical Athens Chapter 8 Civic Self-Representation in the Hellenistic World: The Festival of Artemis Leukophryene in Magnesia-on-the-Maeander Chapter 9 Dionysius of Halicarnassus: Greek Origins and Roman Games (AR 7.70-73) Chapter 10 Epic Games and Real Games in Virgil’s Aeneid 5 and Statius’ Thebaid 6 Chapter 11 Sport or Showbiz? The Naumachiae in the Flavian Amphitheatre Chapter 12 Dionysiac Scenes on Sagalassian Oinophoroi from Seleuceia Sidēra in Pisidia (Southwestern Turkey) Chapter 13 Christianising the Celebrations of Death in Late Antiquity: Funerals and Society Chapter 14 The Sala dei Cavalli in Palazzo Te: Portraits of Champions Grasping the bull by the horns: Minoan bull sports / Eleanor Loughlin Festival? What festival? Reading dance imagery as evidence / Tyler Jo Smith Professional foul: persona in Pindar / Gráinne McLaughlin Orestes the contender: chariot racing and politics in fifth century Athens and Sophocles' Electra / Eleanor Okell From Agônistês to Agônios: Hermes, chaos and conflict in competitive games and festivals / Arlene Allan Dionysiac festivals in Aristophanes' Acharnians / Greta Ham The perils of Pittalakos: settings of cock fighting and dicing in classical Athens / Nick Fisher Civic self-representation in the Hellenistic world: the festival of Artemis Leukophryene / Geoffrey Sumi Roman games and Greek origins in Dionysius of Halicarnassus / Clemence Schultze Epic games and real games in Statius' Thebaid 6 and Virgil's Aeneid 5 / Helen Lovatt Sport or showbiz? The naumachiae of imperial Rome / Francesca Garello Dionysiac scenes on Sagalassian Oinophoroi from Seleuceia Sidera in Pisidia / Ergün Lafli Christianising the celebrations of death in late antiquity / Julia Burman The Sala dei Cavalli in Palazzo Te: portraits of champions / Elizabeth Tobey.