Silent Eloquence: Lucian And Pantomime Dancing (classical Literature And Society)

One of the greatest aesthetic attractions in the ancient world was pantomime dancing, a ballet-style entertainment in which a silent, solo dancer incarnated a series of mythological characters to the accompaniment of music and sung narrative. Looking at a multitude of texts and particularly Lucian's "On the Dance", a dialogue written at the height of pantomime's popularity, this innovative cultural study of the genre offers a radical reassessment of its importance in the symbolic economy of imperial and later antiquity. Rather than being trivial or lowbrow, pantomime was thoroughly enmeshed in wider social discourses on morality and sexuality, gender and desire and a key player in the fierce battles about education and culture that raged in the ancient world. A close reading of primary sources, judiciously interlaced with a wealth of interdisciplinary perspectives, makes this challenging book essential for anyone interested in the performance culture of the Greek and Roman world. "One of the greatest aesthetic attractions in the ancient world, from the end of the first century BC to at least the end of the sixth century AD, was pantomime dancing, a ballet-style stage entertainment in which a silent, solo dancer (usually masked and male) impersonated successively a series of mythological characters to the accompaniment of instrumental music and sung narrative. Taking a fresh look at a multitude of texts, while paying particular attention to Lucian's On the Dance, a dialogue written at the height of pantomime's popularity in the middle of the second century AD, this cultural study offers a radical reassessment of the genre's importance in the symbolic economy of imperial and later antiquity. Pantomime was not, as its critics affirmed, a trivial spectacle, the pastime of the brainless, the immoderate and the effeminate, but an integral, vibrant part of imperial society, indeed a key player in the fierce battles about the ownership of education, entertainment and culture that raged on both sides of the Mediterranean." "A close reading of primary sources, interlaced with interdisciplinary perspectives, makes this book essential for anyone interested in the multi-coloured performance culture of the Greek and Roman world."--Jacket