Review: Supplication

Reviewed Work(s): Ancient Supplication by F. S. Naiden

Review by: Matthew Dillon
Source: The Classical Review , Apr., 2008, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 1 (Apr., 2008), pp.
182-184
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

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182 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

Tylor's Primitive Culture, originally published in 1871, p. 60

additions in nn. 13, 22, 23, 26; similar additions have been made
fonti' and n. 5 'Delimitazione del tema'.)
Material on Greek religion published since the 1985 edition o
included in Arrigoni's introductory discussion of its scope an
Through the descriptions of Italian scholarship ('Il panor
approach in the original work (Accenti e vettori di analisi d
Burkert') he provides a sort of bibliographical essay on d
different aspects of Greek religion. Such an approach provid
what must necessarily be a limited discussion of research c
roughly 1921 to the present in manifold areas of Greek religio
and disadvantages one might expect. At its best it is tho
coverage. Arrigoni takes the opportunity to include extensiv
bibliographies in relevant fields, although, as noted above, it
to have some sort of index to this material. However, it cannot
summary of most developments. There is, for example, very
research in the area of ancient Greek magic (see p. 41 n. 113). M
approach can prove awkward, since discussion of new materi
must always be brought back to whether and how B. cover
risks implying that B.'s omissions need some sort of excuse.
This is, then, a new presentation of this great work, rather th
The physical arrangement of material, new information flank
draws our attention to the central role that Griechische Relig
klassischen Epoche still plays in the study of Greek religion. It
the discovery of so many different facets of ancient Greek
scholars owe it an enormous debt. This edition provides us
understand something of the magnitude of that debt. Moreo
the reader's attention back to B.'s own belief about the study o
he emphasises in his introduction to the 1985 edition: t
provisional nature' ('coscienza della sua provvisoriet'a', La re
any work done in this area, as it tries to reconcile such a vast v
the problems of its interpretation.

Said Business School, University of Oxford ES

esther_eidinow@yahoo.co.uk

SUPPLICATION
NAIDEN (F. S.) Ancient Supplication. Pp. xiv + 426, ills, map.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Cased, ?45. ISBN:
978-0-19-518341-2.
doi: 10. 101 7/S0009840X07002417

In the first few pages of this book, N. establishes - through two examples, one Greek
and one Roman - what was entailed in ancient Greek and Roman supplication
(pp. 3-8, cf. 20). While attempts to schematise ancient rituals and activities are bound
to fail because of the infinite variety of possibilities and combinations, N.'s basic
categorisation of Greek and Roman supplication as a four-part process seems sound
(he refers to the stages as 'steps'). First, there was the approach by the suppliant to the
person they were supplicating, secondly, the gesture of supplication (be it clasping the

The Classical Review vol. 58 no. 1 (? The Classical Association 2008; all rights reserved

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 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 183

knees or throwing oneself at the feet), thirdly, the request itse

spared, to grant a favour), and fourthly, the final and crucial s
person being supplicated, N.'s supplicandus. (This use of the
referring to the person being supplicated appears odd, especiall
where it is first met, without explanation, on the first page of
N. takes a chapter (pp. 29-104) to explore the first three s
emphasises the importance which the suppliant must place on t
of whom to supplicate. If there was only one other person ap
involved in the supplicating situation, the choice was simp
presence of an altar could complicate the choice. There could
choice, and the suppliant would need to know the politics of th
Though scholars usually give this step less attention, it is clearl
The fourth step is the vital one, and it receives its own ch
examines the reasons for acceptance or rejection. This step i
the pledge of the supplicated; N. discusses various motives for
and for how the decision might be made. Rejection might re
expulsion of the suppliant/s, or perhaps even their death,
Odysseus and Leodes with which the book opens (Od. 22).
Among other points, N. observes that modern scholarship
suppliants from altars and shrines as comparatively rare (p. 148
249). His survey of the evidence, however, shows that there a
rejection as of acceptance. In addition, the evidence actually
majority of supplicatory acts took place at altars (p. 218). Th
why this book is so important: it looks at the subject of supp
and its detailed collection of all instances, successful or
mechanisms involved in each, allows for many new observatio
The legal situation is of course important: there are dangers i
and the chapter on the legal situation gives a thorough surv
epigraphic material (pp. 171-218). Laws sought to protect su
arbitrary action of the supplicated, whether individuals or com
the courts, assembly, magistrates and Areopagus are examined;
the bulk of the evidence comes, but the relationships between
emphasised, with the focus on Delphi and Sparta.
The Romans of course had a much more sophisticated l
219-79). N. appraises the differences between Greek and Rom
most of the material he examines is from the Republic, an
imperial situation is called for. A final brief chapter (pp. 281
and morals, but this material could probably have been inco
chapters.
The compilation of acts of supplication in Greek and Latin authors, organised by
ancient author, with the headings 'suppliant/supplicandus', 'gesture/word',
'response', and the pages where these acts are discussed, is a very useful reference tool
(pp. 297-364). There is a catalogue of 'acts of rejection' in Greek sources (pp. 162-9).
These lists, with the separate indexes of suppliants and supplicandi (pp. 412-24), mean
that the reader has an excellent guide to individual acts of supplication and the
sources for these. There is a series of very interesting appendices, especially on the
expulsion of slaves by temple personnel (pp. 373-4). A solid bibliography
(pp. 389-403) and an index of ancient sources (pp. 405-11) round off the book.
The title is misleading, since the book is concerned with only two ancient
Mediterranean civilisations. There is some truncated material on the Near Eastern

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 184 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

context (pp. 21-5, 367-70), but it is rudimentary and m

contrast.
This was a well-written work, and all sections of it are finely argued and compre
hensible upon a first reading. This is a major plus given the present trend towards
obscurantism and jargon in some works of ancient history. N. has an erudite grasp of
the ancient sources, which can be clearly seen to bear the interpretation which he
places upon them. He does not need to stretch the meaning of the evidence to make
his arguments: his work comes strictly from the sources and what they tell and imply.
Above all, this is an original work of scholarship: it is the first monograph length
study of Greek and Roman supplication. It is also an excellent piece of scholarship
which will be the standard work on this topic for many years to come.

University of New England, Armidale MATTHEW DILLON

mdillon@une.edu.au

HANSEN ON THE POLIS: I

HANSEN (M.H.) (ed.) The Imaginary Polis. Symposium, January
7-10 2004. Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre vol. 7. (Historisk
filosofiske Meddelelser 91.) Pp. 444. Copenhagen: The Royal Danish
Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2005. Cased, ?40.27. ISBN:
978-87-7304-310-3.
doi: 10. 101 7/S0009840X07002429

It is rare that a conference volume is able to sustain both quality and thematic
coherence, but this collection of essays, the outcome of a symposium of the
Copenhagen Polis Centre, does exactly that. The twelve essays, arranged in (roughly)
chronological order and with an introduction by Hansen setting out the main themes,
look at the polis from a number of angles and from a range of methodological
perspectives. This is a stimulating treatment of an important and fascinating topic.
To begin, Haubold discusses the Homeric polis, which he locates on the cusp
between the age of gods and the ages of men, marking a point of crisis and transition.
While the polis of the Iliad looks back to a relationship between the gods and
the family, the Odyssey, he argues, looks forward to a world where the main
relationship is between gods and the polis. In a particularly compressed and elusive
argument H. maintains that Homeric epic has an internal cosmic chronology
apart from the external chronologies of Dark Age Greece, which needs to be
understood within the context of its performance, especially the Athenian
Panathenaea. As a result, through the audience's comparison of their city with the
Homeric poleis, the performing of epic became a means of celebrating and
performing the creation of the city of Athens itself and of placing that creation in its
wider theogonic context.
Easterling, in her essay on Athenian tragedy, clearly and effectively aims a
broadside at the now popular idea that the Theban polis represented Athens' symbolic
opposite. She argues that the treatment of Thebes reflects the experience of the polis
in general. In this way, tragedy presents us with the difficulties and tensions of living
in any polis as well as the 'potential value' of polis life; hence it became for contem
poraries in other cities 'a thrillingly modern medium', quickly creating resonances
around the Greek world.

The Classical Review vol. 58 no. 1 (C The Classical Association 2008; all rights reserved

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