Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religious Role and Social Functions: Their Morphology, Religious Role and Social ... (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)

The choruses sung by young girls in ancient Greek poetry are seen as rituals of initiation in cult practices rather than simply as literary texts. Calame reconstructs the religious and social institutions surrounding the songs and demonstrates their educative function. 1. Introduction. 1.1. Problems Of Fragments 1 And 3 Of Alcman. 1.2. Problems Of Method -- 2. Morphology Of The Lyric Chorus. 2.1. The Chorus-members. 2.2. Formal Organization Of The Chorus. 2.3. The Choregos. 2.4. The Activity Of The Chorus -- 3. Chorus And Ritual. 3.1. Non-spartan Rituals. 3.2. Lacedaemonian Rituals -- 4. The Function Of The Lyric Chorus. 4.1. The Chorus As Institution. 4.2. The Pedagogical Function Of The Lyric Chorus. 4.3. Homoerotic Relationships In The Lyric Chorus. 4.4. The Female Lyric Chorus And Tribal Initiation -- 5. Conclusion. Claude Calame ; Translated By Derek Collins And Janice Orion. Thanks To The Active Collaboration Of Claude Calame, Who Has Also Added New Details And Further Bibliography, This Book Is The Equivalent Of A Second Edition--p. Vi. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 267-274) And Index.

In this groundbreaking work, Claude Calame argues that the songs sung by choruses of young girls in ancient Greek poetry are more than literary texts; rather, they functioned as initiatory rituals in Greek cult practices. Using semiotic and anthropologic theory, Calame reconstructs the religious and social institutions surrounding the songs, demonstrating their function in an aesthetic education that permitted the young girls to achieve the stature of womanhood and to be integrated into the adult civic community. This first English edition includes an updated bibliography.

Author Biography: Claude Calame is professor of Greek language and literature at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Using semiotic and anthropologic theory, this book reconstructs the religious and social institutions surrounding the songs sung by young women in ancient Greece, demonstrating their function in an aesthetic education that permitted the young girls to achieve the stature of womanhood.