For each of the themes in the Atlantic Ancient range one set of civilians was produced. For this Greek set the subject seems to be festivals.
There were at least 60 festivals in the official Athenian year, plus a number of smaller local ones. A festival was a religious occasion when the gods were honoured to ensure their favour, but a large part of it was taken up by socialising, parades and contests. Sacrifices were made of animals, and a popular way of foretelling the future was to 'read' the entrails of a newly sacrificed animal, which explains the pedestal with a disembowelled lamb on it. There is also a priest who has opened the animal and who would be expected to interpret the signs. Then the meat would be cooked and eaten by the worshippers. Other figures in this set are of people carrying dining utensils (perhaps slave girls), and of two people reclining. The Greeks often had a symposion, which was a drinking party that was attended by men only. However in this set one of the reclining figures is a woman, and both have been given beds to sit on whereas a couch would have been better. Finally there is an armed man, perhaps standing guard during the ceremony.
Greek men and women wore loose clothes that draped on the body. The basic garment was the chiton, which was worn in many styles. Sandals were worn outdoors, but inside people were barefoot. All the figures here appear authentically dressed, although we were unsure about the more carefully tailored dress of the reclining lady.
With such simple costume the sculpting of the folds is all important, and this has been quite well done. Apart from the inclusion of beds rather than couches, we felt the poses and accessories were reasonable. These are nicely sculpted, but are very large, particularly for HO scale figures. Still this is a most unusual set that makes quite a change from the normal military subjects.