Constructions Of The Classical Body (the Body, In Theory: Histories Of Cultural Materialism)

Classical scholarship has traditionally neglected the prominence of the body in antiquity. Constructions of the Classical Body theorizes that the study of antiquity is necessarily a study of the body, and that attention to this fact can lead to a much-needed shift in the way in which classical studies are approached today. This volume aims to reestablish the relevance of the problem of the body at the perimeters of several different kinds of inquiry, and, in this way, to help open up a field of possibilities for future study. The range covered by the essays in this volume is sweeping: from Corinthian vaseware to Athenian and Roman politics, poetry from Homer to Ovid, medical writers from the Hippocratic corpus to the diary of Aelius Aristides (second century c.e.), philosophy (Seneca, Porphyry), the Greek novel, Christian apocrypha, Ovid's medieval reception, and twentieth century film. This range is a consequence of the multidisciplinarity that any study of the body requires, and it attests to the particular richness of the body in classical antiquity and as an object for study today. The volume illustrates that body is located between traditional borders, not within them; the body dissolves traditional objects of study and joins areas usually kept apart. Retracing the fate of the body is thus a way of rendering antiquity truly strange again—it allows us to see the past afresh, with open eyes. This volume includes essays by Carlin A. Barton, Anne Carlson, Eric Downing, Catherine Edwards, Maud W. Gleason, John Henderson, Ralph Hexter, S. C. Humphreys, Helen King, Leslie Kurke, Robert Lamberton, David S. Potter, Amy Richlin, Giulia Sissa, Maria Wyke, and Froma I. Zeitlin, along with an introduction by James I. Porter. ". . . a superb collection, one that I know will be most welcome not only in the field of classical studies, but in the libraries of all those interested in the history and historicity of the body." —Page duBois, University of California, San Diego James I. Porter is Associate Professor of Classical Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Michigan. Constructions Of The Classical Body Brings Together Essays By Distinguished International Scholars To Explore The Subject Of The Body In Antiquity. The Book's Thesis Is That The Study Of Antiquity Is Necessarily A Study Of The Body, And That Attention To This Fact Can Lead To A Much-needed Shift In The Way That Classical Studies Are Approached Today. The Volume Aims To Reestablish The Relevance Of The Problem Of The Body At The Perimeters Of Several Different Kinds Of Inquiry, And In This Way To Help Open Up A Field Of Possibilities For Future Study. Smashing Bodies : Corinthian Tydeus And Ismene Amphora / John Henderson -- Reflections On Erotic Desire In Archaic And Classical Greece / Froma I. Zeitlin -- Dirt And Desire : Phenomenology Of Female Pollution In Antiquity / Anne Carson -- Pindar And The Prostitutes, Or Reading Ancient Pornography / Leslie Kurke -- From A Grin To Death : The Body In Greek Discovery Of Politics / S.c. Humphreys -- Sexual Bodybuilding : Aeschines Against Timarchus / Guilia Sissa -- Odor And Power In The Roman Empire / David S. Potter -- Cicero's Head / Amy Richlin -- Roman Blush : Delicate Matter Of Self-control / Carlin A. Barton -- Anti-pygmalion : Praeceptor In Ars Amatoria, Book 3 / Eric Downing -- Suffering Body : Philosophy And Pain In Seneca's Letters / Catharine Edwards -- Chronic Pain And The Creation Of Narrative / Helen King -- Truth Contests And Talking Corpses / Maud W. Gleason -- Sweet Honey In The Rock : Pleasure, Embodiment, And Metaphor In Late-antique Platonism / Robert Lamberton -- Ovid's Body / Ralph Hexter -- Herculean Muscle : Classicizing Rhetoric Of Bodybuilding / Maria Wyke. Edited By James I. Porter. This Book Originated At A Conference Of The International Association For Philosophy And Literature, Held At The University Of California, Irvine, In 1990. 'contributors': P. [381]-383. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Classical scholarship has traditionally neglected the prominence of the body in antiquity. Constructions of the Classical Body theorizes that the study of antiquity is necessarily a study of the body, and that attention to this fact can lead to a much-needed shift in the way in which classical studies are approached today. This volume aims to reestablish the relevance of the problem of the body at the perimeters of several different kinds of inquiry, and, in this way, to help open up a field of possibilities for future study.The range covered by the essays in this volume is sweeping: from Corinthian vaseware to Athenian and Roman politics, poetry from Homer to Ovid, medical writers from the Hippocratic corpus to the diary of Aelius Aristides (second century C.E.), philosophy (Seneca, Porphyry), the Greek novel, Christian apocrypha, Ovid's medieval reception, and twentieth century film. This range is a consequence of the multidisciplinarity that any study of the body requires, and it attests to the particular richness of the body in classical antiquity and as an object for study today. The volume illustrates that body is located between traditional borders, not within them; the body dissolves traditional objects of study and joins areas usually kept apart. Retracing the fate of the body is thus a way of rendering antiquity truly strange again -- it allows us to see the past afresh, with open eyes. Acknowledgments Contents Introduction Smashing Bodies: The Corinthian Tydeus and Ismene Amphora (Louvre E640) Reflections on Erotic Desire in Archaic and Classical Greece Dirt and Desire: The Phenomenology of Female Pollution in Antiquity Pindar and the Prostitutes, or Reading Ancient “Pornography” From a Grin to a Death: The Body in the Greek Discovery of Politics Sexual Bodybuilding: Aeschines against Timarchus Odor and Power in the Roman Empire Cicero's Head The Roman Blush: The Delicate Matter of Self-Control Anti-Pygmalion: The Praeceptor in Ars Amatoria, Book 3 The Suffering Body: Philosophy and Pain in Seneca's Letters Chronic Pain and the Creation of Narrative Truth Contests and Talking Corpses Sweet Honey in the Rock: Pleasure, Embodiment, and Metaphor in Late-Antique Platonism Ovid's Body Herculean Muscle!: The Classicizing Rhetoric of Bodybuilding Contributors Index