The conventional view of Aristophanes bristles with problems. Important testimony for Alcibiades' paramount role in comedy is consistently disregarded, and the tradition that "masks were made to look like the komodoumenoi, so that before an actor spoke a word, the audience would recognize who was being attacked" is hardly ever invoked. If these testimonia are taken into account, a fascinating picture emerges, where the komodoumenoi are based on the Periclean household: older characters on Pericles himself, younger on Alcibiades. Aspasia, Pericles' mistress, and Hipparete, Alcibiades' wife, lie behind many female characters, and Alcibiades' ambiguous sexuality also allows him to be shown on the stage as a woman, notably as Lysistrata. There is a substantial overlap between the anecdotal tradition relating to the historical figures and the plotting of Aristophanes' plays. This extends to speech patterns, where Alcibiades' speech defect is lampooned. Aristophanes is consistently critical of Alcibiades' mercurial politics, and his works can also be seen to have served as an aide-memoire for Thucydides and Xenophon. If the argument presented here is correct, then much current scholarship on Aristophanes can be set aside.

Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian war was the arena for a dramatic battle between politics and religion in the hearts and minds of the people. Fear and Loathing in Ancient Athens, originally published in German but now available for the first time in an expanded and revised English edition, sheds new light on this dramatic period of history and offers a new approach to the study of Greek religion. The book explores an extraordinary range of events and topics, and will be an indispensable study for students and scholars studying Athenian religion and politics.

Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian war was the arena for a dramatic battle between politics and religion in the hearts and minds of the people. Fear and Loathing in Ancient Athens, originally published in German but now available for the first time in an expanded and revised English edition, sheds new light on this dramatic period of history and offers a new approach to the study of Greek religion. The book explores an extraordinary range of events and topics, and will be an indispensable study for students and scholars studying Athenian religion and politics.

Literary historians have long held the view that the plays of the Greek dramatist, Sophocles deal purely with archetypes of the heroic past and that any resemblance to contemporary events or individuals is purely coincidental. In this book, Michael Vickers challenges this view and argues that Sophocles makes regular and extensive allusion to Athenian politics in his plays, especially to Alcibiades, one of the most controversial Athenian politicians of his day.Vickers shows that Sophocles was no closeted intellectual but a man deeply involved in politics and he reminds us that Athenian politics was intensely personal. He argues cogently that classical writers employed hidden meanings and that consciously or sub-consciously, Sophocles was projecting onto his plays hints of contemporary events or incidents, mostly of a political nature, hoping that his audience's passion for politics would enhance the popularity of his plays. Vickers strengthens his case about Sophocles by discussing other authors - Thucydides, Plato and Euripides - in whom he also demonstrates a body of allusions to Alcibiades and others.

The conventional view of Aristophanes bristles with problems. Important testimony for Alcibiades' paramount role in comedy is consistently disregarded, and the tradition that "masks were made to look like the komodoumenoi, so that before an actor spoke a word, the audience would recognize who was being attacked" is hardly ever invoked. If these testimonia are taken into account, a fascinating picture emerges, where the komodoumenoi are based on the Periclean household: older characters on Pericles himself, younger on Alcibiades. Aspasia, Pericles' mistress, and Hipparete, Alcibiades' wife, lie behind many female characters, and Alcibiades' ambiguous sexuality also allows him to be shown on the stage as a woman, notably as Lysistrata. There is a substantial overlap between the anecdotal tradition relating to the historical figures and the plotting of Aristophanes' plays. This extends to speech patterns, where Alcibiades' speech defect is lampooned. Aristophanes is consistently critical of Alcibiades' mercurial politics, and his works can also be seen to have served as an aide-memoire for Thucydides and Xenophon. If the argument presented here is correct, then much current scholarship on Aristophanes can be set aside.

Literary historians have long held the view that the plays of the Greek dramatist, Sophocles deal purely with archetypes of the heroic past and that any resemblance to contemporary events or individuals is purely coincidental. In this book, Michael Vickers challenges this view and argues that Sophocles makes regular and extensive allusion to Athenian politics in his plays, especially to Alcibiades, one of the most controversial Athenian politicians of his day.Vickers shows that Sophocles was no closeted intellectual but a man deeply involved in politics and he reminds us that Athenian politics was intensely personal. He argues cogently that classical writers employed hidden meanings and that consciously or sub-consciously, Sophocles was projecting onto his plays hints of contemporary events or incidents, mostly of a political nature, hoping that his audience's passion for politics would enhance the popularity of his plays. Vickers strengthens his case about Sophocles by discussing other authors - Thucydides, Plato and Euripides - in whom he also demonstrates a body of allusions to Alcibiades and others.

A collection of 16 papers to honour Arthur MacGregor and his work. Contents: David Berry: Vita Arthuri; The published writings of Arthur MacGregor; Lauren Gilmour: An Anglo-Saxon gold finger-ring from Abingdon, Oxfordshire; Assimina Kaniari: Wonder after modernity: 16th century visual sources, 20th century ethnographic collections and transition; Timothy Wilks: Plundered art for the collections of Charles I? The capture of Munich in May, 1632; Catherine Whistler: Collecting the overlooked: some baroque paintings from the collection of Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941); Malcolm Baker: Collections, sculpture and the changing fortunes of an eighteenth-century portrait bust: Julian Munby: A Rare Collection: Oxford museums past and present; Jon Whiteley: The Bodleian Picture Gallery; Claire Lyons: Beauvalet de Saint-Victor s Vases grecs et etrusques; Athena Tsingarida: The reception of the van Branteghem collection in Belgium; Kate Heard: His Royal Highness the Prints of Wales: George IV as a collector of prints; Lucilla Burn: Robert Pashley and the Pashley sarcophagus; Martin Henig and Penny Coombe: Roach Smith and the antiquities of London: the sculptures; Michele Benucci and Susanna Sarti: A private library in 19th century Rome: the sale of Giovanni Pietro Campana s library; Claudia Wagner: Fable and history: Prince Poniatowski s Neoclassical gem collection; Thomas Mannack: The Ancient World in the nursery: German tin figures of the 18th to 21st centuries; H.S. Torrens A forgotten provincial English museums initiative of the 1830s: The Midland counties Natural History Societies, their museums and libraries."

When you understand who you are, then you are able to discover what you are capable of. Studies have shown that over seventy percent of the population is challenged with depression at one point in their lives. Depression is a clear and simple expression of what occurs within a person when they experience a lack of truth. The information within the pages of Believe has been strategically designed to alleviate clinical depression in vast numbers of people throughout society. Offering universal truth and clarity to those who know the experience they are having is not a reflection of who they are or what they are capable of. FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SEARCHING for something to believe in. Something that allows them to understand the meaning of life and the reason they have endured the challenges and experiences that have consistently showed up. They are looking for truth but in ways that defy every instinct and natural tendency within them. For the first time in the current history of the universe Believe offers clear and concise explanations of who we are as a human race. Why humanity was created and most importantly what we are capable of. This knowledge has the ability to release the burden of confusion to allow for the experience of abundance and joy to not only enter your life but to lead it.

Forty-seven papers concerning the northern and eastern Black Sea in ancient times. Papers cover a wide range of topics, including Ancient Greek poleis, numismatics, amphorae, pottery and Greek-'Barbarian' relations.

Literary historians have long held the view that the plays of the Greek dramatist Sophocles deal purely with archetypes of the heroic past and that any resemblance to contemporary events or individuals is purely coincidental. In this book, Michael Vickers challenges this view and argues that Sophocles makes regular and extensive allusion to Athenian politics in his plays, especially to Alcibiades, one of the most controversial Athenian politicians of his day. Vickers shows that Sophocles was deeply involved in Athenian political life, which was often intensely personal. He argues cogently that classical writers employed hidden meanings and that Sophocles consciously or subconsciously projected onto his plays hints of contemporary events or incidents, mostly of a political nature, hoping that his audience's passion for politics would enhance the popularity of his plays. Vickers strengthens his case about Sophocles by discussing authors-Thucydides, Plato, and Euripides-whose work contains a body of allusions to Alcibiades and others.

Traveling cross continent, the author explores several prominent, and many virtually secret sites of American antiquity. All relate to civilizations and cultures which preceded the arrival of the European-some, by many 1000s of years. While the focus is on the Great Valley of the Mississippi and the stupendous and mysterious Moundbuilders, the working context is modern America. And it is knowledgeable Americans whom the author encounters along the Trail who provide support and guidance. In the latter part of the book, attention shifts to the startling land formations of the South-west-the Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, the High Plains-which tell us much about the intensity of activity on the American continent many millions of years before man, a very new newcomer, was to make his first appearance. Phantom Trail creates an alternative portrait of America. It explores deeper themes and reveals identifiable lines of continuity leading up from antiquity to the present day. It suggests that America is not a modern European invention. forces, the beat of those deep, primeval rhythms which-unrecognized or ignored, as they may currently be-give to America its essential meaning, its presence, and its form.

Since the eighteenth century, classical scholars have generally agreed that the Greek playwright Aristophanes did not as a matter of course write "political" plays. Yet, according to an anonymous Life of Aristophanes, when Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse wanted to know about the government of Athens, Plato sent him a copy of Aristophanes' Clouds. In this boldly revisionist work, Michael Vickers convincingly argues that in his earlier plays, Aristophanes in fact commented on the day-to-day political concerns of Athenians. Vickers reads the first six of Aristophanes' eleven extant plays in a way that reveals the principal characters to be based in large part on Pericles and his ward Alcibiades. According to Vickers, the plays of Aristophanes-far from being nonpolitical-actually allow us to gauge the reaction of the Athenian public to the events that followed Pericles' death in 429 B.C., to the struggle for the political succession, and to the problems presented by Alcibiades' emergence as one of the most powerful figures in the state. This view of Aristophanes reaffirms the central role of allegory in his work and challenges all students of ancient Greece to rethink long-held assumptions about this important playwright.