Journal Of Hellenic Religion (J. Hell. relig.)

MARGARET M. MILES (ed.) Autopsy in Athens. Oxbow Books, 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford, OX1 2EW, xii + 186 pp., 56 colour illustrations, 75 b&w illustrations, 5 maps, 1 table, £60 (hbk), 2015. ISBN 9781782978565.

Autopsy in Athens is a very welcomed collection of papers edited by M. M. Miles, Professor of Art History and Classics at the University of California, who also contributes the introduction and a paper to the collection. The plethora of authors, 18 in total, includes many experts ranging from Professors to Research Fellows and PhD Candidates in Classics (the expertise of the majority of the contributors), Archaeology, Ancient Architecture, and Art History. As the abstract of the edited volume rightly mentions, the aim of the 15 papers is to present the results of the authors’ personal ‘intensive, first-hand examinations’ and/or re-examinations of a variety of subjects that primarily concern ancient Athens and Attica – this is exactly what the word autopsy suggests effectively making the title of the volume descriptive. The volume includes well-reproduced high-quality illustrations and maps, while very helpful is the index and list of the inscriptions cited in the text. Most importantly, all papers, except one (paper 2 ‘Tools from the House of Mikion and Menon’), provide important contributions on a wide range of topics that are all important to the study of ancient Greek religion. These topics are: cult and ritual praxis, religious architecture, ritual spaces and monumentality, and ritual disposal of objects.