Birds of the Athenian Agora

Robert Lamberton, Susan I. Rotroff

American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1985 - Art - 32 pages

As well as the Little Owl or glaux, so often seen accompanying the goddess Athena, many other birds played an important role in Greek art and symbolism. This booklet describes the ways in which the Greeks viewed birds, from useful hawks and fowl to exotic parakeets and peacocks. Some of the birds most often depicted are imaginary, from the griffin to the phallos bird, whose head and neck consisted of an erect penis. The book ends with a field guide to species likely to be seen on a visit to the Agora archaeological park today.

About the author

Robert D. Lamberton is Professor of Classics and Susan I. Rotroff is the Jarvis Thurston and Mona Van Duyn Professor in Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Birds of the Athenian Agora; Volume 22 of Agora Picture Book; Issue 22 of Excavations of the Athenian Agora: Picture book, ISSN 0569-7425; Volume 22 of Picture book], [Excavations of the Athenian agora
• Authors: Robert Lamberton, Susan I. Rotroff
• Contributor: American School of Classical Studies at Athens
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1985
• ISBN: 0876616279, 9780876616277
• Length: 32 pages
• Subjects: Art / Subjects & Themes / General; History / Ancient / Greece; Social Science / Archaeology