Synopses & Reviews
The first large-scale application of feminist theory to the study of Greek and Roman cultures, this book points to some striking similarities between our culture and that of the ancient world, challenging Foucauldian assumptions about the nature of sexuality. Covering such topics as vase painting, tragic and comic drama from fifth-century Athens, Hellenistic philosophy and sex manuals, Roman history, poetry, wall-painting, representations of gladiatorial combat, and romance novels, the contributors approach sexuality from both sides of the feminist pornography debate, including the use of film theory. A path-breaking application of feminist theory to the study of Greek and Roman cultures, this text offers new insight into the notion of sexuality in the ancient world.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-311) and index.
Table of Contents
Timeline of material covered in the text
1. Pornography and Persuasion on Attic Pottery, Robert F. Sutton, JR.
Tragedy and the Politics of Containment, Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz
3. Eros in Love: Pederasty and Pornography in Geece, Alan Shapiro
4. The Mute Nude Female Characters in Aristophanes' Plays, Bella Zweig
5. Love's Body Anatomized: The Ancient Erotic Handbooks and the Rhetoric of Society, Holt N. Parker
6. The Body Female and the Body Politic: Livy's Lucretia and Verginia, Sandra R. Joshel
7. The Domestication of Desire: Ovid's Parva Tabella and the Theater of Love, Molly Myerowitz
8. Reading Ovid's Rapes, Amy Richlin
9. Death as Decoration: Scenes from the Arena on Roman Domestic Mosaics, Shelby Brown
10. Callirhoe: Displaying the Phallic Woman, Helen E. Elsom
11. Sweet and Pleasant Passion: Female and Male Fantasy in Ancient Romance Novels, Holly Montague
12. The Edible Woman: Athenaeus' Concept of the Pornographic, Madeleine M. Henry
Afterword: The (Other) Maiden's Tale, Terry Marsh
Credits for Photographs
Bibliography [comprehensive]
Contributors
Index