The study of bronzes and other metals from the Athenian Acropolis traditionally has been overshadowed by the emphasis given to the famous monuments of architecture and sculpture, in part due to the incomplete publication of the metal small finds from the site following the major excavation campaigns in the 19th century. Without attempting to be a comprehensive synthesis on this topic, this volume positions itself against this tradition by resuscitating discussion on the Acropolis bronzes. The introduction reflects on the history of the relevant scholarship vis-a-vis the life of the Acropolis bronzes in various museums and collections in Greece and elsewhere. The six essays provide overviews, reinterpretations, and critical discussions as well as new methodological approaches to various aspects of the existing corpus. Diane Harris-Cline employs Actor-Network theory to showcase the intricate web of social relationships behind each gesture that resulted in the deposition of bronzes on the Acropolis. Andronike Makres and Adele Scafuro reflect on methodological quandaries and detail their efforts to produce a new critical edition of the corpus of inscriptions on dedicatory and other bronzes that takes into account the materiality of this epigraphic record. Amy Sowder Koch reviews the corpus of hydriai from the Acropolis, taking into account newly published examples, and situates them within the larger context of bronze hydriai, seeking to understand Athens' role in bronze hydria production. Germano Sarcone revisits technical and social aspects of the impressively monumental and technically complex tripod-cauldrons from the Acropolis from the eighth century BCE onwards. Nassos Papalexandrou discusses the corpus of griffin cauldrons arguing that their original lavishness added to the prestige of the sanctuary during a formative period of Athenian society. Elena Karakitsou publishes a fascinating inscribed phiale retrieved from the southwestern entablature of the Parthenon along with the remains of a rare ritual deposit.
Preface Introduction: A Historiographic Essay Nassos Papalexandrou and Amy Sowder Koch The Social Life of Bronzes: Actor-Network Theory on the Entangled Acropolis Diane Harris Cline Archaic Inscribed Bronze Dedications on the Acropolis: Thoughts on a New Edition Andronike Makres and Adele C. Scafuro Hephaistos in Athens: Bronze Hydriai from the Akropolis and Beyond Amy Sowder Koch The Monumental Tripod-Cauldrons of the Acropolis of Athens between the Eighth and Seventh Centuries B.C.E. Germano Sarcone Monsters on the Athenian Acropolis: The Orientalizing Corpus of Griffin Cauldrons Nassos Papalexandrou A Bronze Vessel inside the Parthenon's West-Side Entablature Elena Karakitsou
Amy Sowder Koch is associate professor of art history at Towson University in Baltimore, MD. She is an art historian and archaeologist, specializing in the study of ancient bronzes (particularly hydriai).
Nassos Papalexandrou teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. His latest book is Bronze Monsters and the Cultures of Wonder: Griffin Cauldrons in the Preclassical Mediterranean, (University of Texas Press, 2021).
