The Children of Athena: Athenian Ideas about Citizenship and the Division Between the Sexes

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Princeton University Press, Aug 28, 1994 - History - 271 pages

According to one myth, the first Athenian citizen was born from the earth after the sperm of a rejected lover, the god Hephaistos, dripped off the virgin goddess Athena's leg and onto fertile soil. Henceforth Athenian citizens could claim to be truly indigenous to their city and to have divine origins that bypassed maternity. In these essays, the renowned French Hellenist Nicole Loraux examines the implication of this and other Greek origin myths as she explores how Athenians in the fifth century forged and maintained a collective identity.

 

Contents

An Athenian Topic
37
Imaginary Structures
111
Aristophanes Lysistrata
147
Euripides Ion
184
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About the author (1994)

Nicole Loraux is Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Froma I. Zeitlin is Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature at Princeton University.

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