Atene prima e dopo le guerre persiane: le sculture dell'Acropoli e il loro contesto sociale

This paper examines the dedications made on the Athenian Akropolis from about the mid-sixth to the mid-fifth century B.C. and argues that the decade of the Persian Wars, 490-480 B.C., represents a major break in the kinds of dedications made and in the corresponding social practices that they reflect. Prior to 480 most Akropolis dedications are private in nature, while after 480 the most visible offerings were set up by the Athenian state. Of the Archaic dedications, the most numerous are the korai, which disappear entirely after 480, though the korai of the Erechtheion carry a deliberate reminiscence. It is argued here that the Archaic korai may represent Arrhephoroi, well-born girls who served Athena, and that the statues were set up by their families at the end of their year in office. As for male statues, three so-called "scribes" are reinterpreted here as portraits of oracle-mongers (chresmologoi) of the last years of the Peisistratid tyranny.