Music and Image in Classical Athens

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Author:

Sheramy Bundrick, University of South Florida

Published:

October 2005

Availability:

Available

Format:

Hardback

ISBN:

9780521848060

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Description

During the fifth century BC, Athens witnessed the explosion of images depicting musical performance, such as Apollo and the Muses, frisky satyrs, the poet Orpheus, youths at school, brides at weddings, and the dead at tombs. Primarily found in vase paintings, but also in sculpture and now-lost wall paintings, these images provide insight into the musical culture of the time, In this study, Sheramy Bundrick proposes that the depictions of musical performance were intimately linked to contemporary developments in the field of music itself, such as the debate over music in education, theories of musical ethos, and the growing popularity of professional musicians. Moreover, she argues that music became a visual metaphor for the harmony - or disharmony - of the city. Her book is the first to consider the broad range of musical images in the dynamic classical period, as well as their sociocultural and artistic implications.

Interdisciplinary study of interest to art historians, classicists, and musicologists
Only book-length study devoted to fifth-century BC musical imagery
Takes a contextual approach to Greek art, in this case images of music in Athens

Reviews & endorsements

"The book is beautifully presented and richly illustrated with over 100 black and white photographs. Music and Image in Classical Athens provides a valuable contribution to the discussion of the social significance of music in Ancient Greece. With a thorough examination of a wide range of visual evidence, Bundrick constructs a coherent narrative about the significance of musical images."
-Sohie Gibson, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The book provides fascinating evidence for a cultural shift in Athens in the fifth century, one that permeated its society and infiltrated its economy and vase production."
-Bradford Lee Eden, University of California, Santa Barbara

"Bundrick's text is clear and her discussions lucid; she cites hundreds of vase depictions by musical category. Since classicists and ancient art historians are not usually versed in ancient music, Bundrick's book should be a must-read for every student of ancient Athens from undergraduate to the senior scholar."
-John G. Younger, Kansas University, Classical World

"This is an original and useful book and a fine example of how to use visual evidence to answer questions on which literary sources are silent. Naturally, Bundrick quotes poets, historians, and philosophers where relevant; all the quotations are given in English, and any Greek terms are transliterated, making the book accessible to a broader audience...[A]nyone working on Athenian iconography, ancient music, or the festival competitions will find this work useful."
-Anne Mahoney, Tufts University, The Classical Outlook

"It is one of those rare books that truly will be of use to the beginning student and the experienced scholar alike...Bundrick has a gift for clear, economical exposition, and a masterful ability to edit her copious sources in such a way that the reader feels neither overwhelmed nor deprived of the full picture in all its necessary detail." --Timothy Power, Rutgers University, The Phoenix: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada

"… a remarkably lovely volume … [it] regales us with a world of information about the marvelous details of the dominant role that music played … Sell your bed and buy this book!"
J. Harold Ellens, Journal of Psychology and Christianity

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