Paralysin Cave: Impotence, Perception, And Text In The Satyrica Of Petronius (mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava Supplementum)

This volume explores the literary representation of male sexual dysfunction and discusses the natural and supernatural elements of an ancient folk medical system based on conceptual associations between male sexuality and specific plants, animals and minerals. The work incorporates material from both literary and scientific sources to draw parallels between ancient and modern paradigms of healing. The literary depiction of attempts to remedy impotence demonstrates how an accessibility to cures contributes to the sexual and social reintegration of the sufferer. The Satyrica of Petronius echoes this process by means of the text itself and so effects similar ends. The book provides new insights into literature and the ancient belief systems underlying it with its original and integrative approach to disciplines such as philology, botany, mineralogy, zoology and medicine. PARALYSIN CAVE: IMPOTENCE, PERCEPTION, AND TEXT IN THE SATYR/CA OF PETRONIUS 3 CONTENTS 7 Preface 9 List ef Plates 11 Bibliographic Abbreviations Used in the Text 12 Introduction 13 Chapter One: Surveying the Landscape 31 Chapter Two: Methodologies and Conceptual Foundations 73 Chapter Three: Flora and the Perceptions of Virility 111 Chapter Four: Serpents, Sexuality, and the Power of Stones 141 Chapter Five: Συμπάθεια: Recognition and Rejection 187 Afterword 229 Plates 233 Bibliography 241 Index Locorum 265 Index Verborum: Greek 275 Index Verborum· Latin 278 General Index 281 PARALYSIN CAVE: IMPOTENCE, PERCEPTION, AND TEXT IN THE SATYRICA OF PETRONIUS CONTENTS Preface List ef Plates Bibliographic Abbreviations Used in the Text Introduction Chapter One: Surveying the Landscape Chapter Two: Methodologies and Conceptual Foundations Chapter Three: Flora and the Perceptions of Virility Chapter Four: Serpents, Sexuality, and the Power of Stones Chapter Five: Συμπάθεια: Recognition and Rejection Afterword Plates Bibliography Index Locorum Index Verborum: Greek Index Verborum· Latin General Index This volume explores the literary representation of male sexual dysfunction and investigates how the natural and supernatural elements of an ancient folk medical system and the empowerment implicit in the text itself function in the Satyrica of Petronius.