The Hunt in Ancient Greece

by Judith M. Barringer

Overview

Hunting and its imagery continued to play a significant role in archaic and classical Greece long after hunting had ceased being a necessity for survival in everyday life. Drawing on vase paintings, sculpture, inscriptions, and other literary evidence, Judith Barringer reexamines the theme of the hunt and shows how the tradition it depicts helped maintain the dominance of the ruling social groups.

Along with athletics and battle, hunting was a defining activity of the masculine aristocracy and was crucial to the efforts of the Athenian elite to control the social agenda, even as their political power declined. The Hunt in Ancient Greece examines descriptions of hunting in initiation rituals as well as the ideals of masculinity and adulthood such rites of passage promoted. Barringer argues that depictions of the hunt in literature and art also served as striking metaphors for the intricacies of courtship, shedding light on sexuality and gender roles. Through an exploration of various representations of the hunt, Barringer provides extraordinary insight into Athenian society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801866562
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	01/18/2002
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.06(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Judith M. Barringer is Professor of Greek Art and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Note on Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1. Hunting, Warfare, Aristocrats
Chapter 2. Eros and the Hunt
Chapter 3. Hunting and Myth
Chapter 4. Hunting and the Funerary Realm
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index of Ancient Citations
Index of Objects
General Index

What People are Saying About This

Andrew Stewart

In this lucid and intelligent study, Barringer skillfully analyzes the imagery of Greek hunting and pursues its connections with warfare, sex, and death. A fine example of the art historian's craft.

— Andrew Stewart, University of California, Berkeley

From the Publisher

The Hunt in Ancient Greece is a mature, well-argued, and well-documented study of the theme of the hunt in archaic and classical Greece, making excellent use of both literary and pictorial sources. The materials collected are exhaustive, and Barringer describes and interprets them with exemplary clarity and caution. This is an excellent contribution: learned, intelligent, informative.
—David Konstan, Brown University

In this lucid and intelligent study, Barringer skillfully analyzes the imagery of Greek hunting and pursues its connections with warfare, sex, and death. A fine example of the art historian's craft.
—Andrew Stewart, University of California, Berkeley

David Konstan

The Hunt in Ancient Greece is a mature, well-argued, and well-documented study of the theme of the hunt in archaic and classical Greece, making excellent use of both literary and pictorial sources. The materials collected are exhaustive, and Barringer describes and interprets them with exemplary clarity and caution. This is an excellent contribution: learned, intelligent, informative.

— David Konstan, Brown University

Editorial Reviews

Judith M. Barringer's book is an important one, precise, full of interesting details, mature, controversial in a positive way, highly recommendable . . . [It] marks an étape in the study of Greek imaginary. The extensive use of iconography is masterful.
—Charles Delattre, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

This book is well written and skillfully and persuasively argued. It assembles a wealth of literary and artistic sources for hunting and performs an invaluable service in asking us to look and, more importantly, showing us how to look at the social ideology behind artistic and literary imagery.
—Mary Ann Eaverly, American Historical Review

Judith Barringer's study of the hunt in Greek art is an exemplary work that sheds new light on the social dimension of the art and some of its themes.
—Mark Stansbury-O'Donnell, CAA.Reviews

From the Publisher

This book is well written and skillfully and persuasively argued. It assembles a wealth of literary and artistic sources for hunting and performs an invaluable service in asking us to look and, more importantly, showing us how to look at the social ideology behind artistic and literary imagery.

American Historical Review - Mary Ann Eaverly

Judith M. Barringer's book is an important one, precise, full of interesting details, mature, controversial in a positive way, highly recommendable . . . [It] marks an étape in the study of Greek imaginary. The extensive use of iconography is masterful.

Bryn Mawr Classical Review - Charles Delattre

Judith Barringer's study of the hunt in Greek art is an exemplary work that sheds new light on the social dimension of the art and some of its themes.

CAA.Reviews - Mark Stansbury-O'Donnell

Judith Barringer's study of the hunt in Greek art is an exemplary work that sheds new light on the social dimension of the art and some of its themes.

— Mark Stansbury-O'Donnell

CAA Reviews

This book is well written and skillfully and persuasively argued. It assembles a wealth of literary and artistic sources for hunting and performs an invaluable service in asking us to look and, more importantly, showing us how to look at the social ideology behind artistic and literary imagery.

— Mary Ann Eaverly

American Historical Review

Judith M. Barringer's book is an important one, precise, full of interesting details, mature, controversial in a positive way, highly recommendable... [It] marks an étape in the study of Greek imaginary. The extensive use of iconography is masterful.

— Charles Delattre

Bryn Mawr Classical Review