Introduction

Thinking about the culture of fifth-century Athens prompts the question whether we have the evidence-literary, inscriptional, archaeological-to enable us to enter into the life of the people to whom we may be said to owe, amongst other things, democracy, tragedy, comedy, political history, moral philosophy, mathematical astronomy, pictorial space and the Parthenon. Innovation in thought or art is never fully explained by reference to its cultural setting, but if we admire many of the products of a culture, it should be instructive to see how far we can enter into that culture.