Reitzammer brings a new perspective to the Athenian Adonia festival, drawing connections to widespread cultural rituals as well as important surviving works of literature. The material is
presented in four thorough chapters, the first chapter discussing representation of the Adonia in contemporary sources through history up to modern scholarship. Themes emphasized include an
attitude of dismissiveness, portrayal of the gardens of Adonis, and connections to Eastern myth. Chapter two connects the myth of Adonis to wedding rituals, drawing out parallels in iconography
and painting Adonis into a gender ambiguous position of a "bride," potentially giving contemporary women a subversive opportunity for identification. Chapter three then discusses the commentary
of Adonia on funeral rituals through elements of lamentation and closure, working from references in Lysistrata and comparisons to the Bacchae. Finally, the author takes the ambitious step of
locating in the philosophy of Plato influence from the themes and imagery of the Adonia, forcing the rationality of philosophy nevertheless into frames of ritual and myth. Ultimately the text
argues that this ostensibly private ritual in fact was interwoven greatly into Athenian public life. Annotation ©2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
