The history written on the classical Greek body / Robin Osborne.
2011
DF78 .O83 2011 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection
Items
Details
Title
The history written on the classical Greek body / Robin Osborne.
Author
Osborne, Robin, 1957-
ISBN
9780521176705 (pbk.)
0521176700 (pbk.)
9781107003200
1107003202
0521176700 (pbk.)
9781107003200
1107003202
Imprint
Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Language
English
Description
xv, 260 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Call Number
DF78 .O83 2011
Dewey Decimal Classification
938.0072
Summary
"This book challenges historians of all periods to come to terms with the distortions that they systematically introduce into their work by their reliance on what has been written on paper without looking at what was and was not written on the body. Historians use textual evidence to try to understand what people did in the past. But in interpreting that textual evidence they make assumptions about what past peoples could see. In particular they make assumptions about the way in which the classifications of language were visible to the eye, as well as conceivable in the mind. This book is concerned with the ways in which texts relating to classical Greece, and in particular to classical Athens, classified people and with the extent to which those classifications could be seen by the eye. It compares the qualities distinguished in texts with those distinguished in sculpture and painted pottery and emphasizes the frequent invisibility of the categories upon which historians have laid most stress - the citizen, the free person, the foreigner, even the god. The frequent impossibility of seeing who belonged to which category has major political, social, and theological implications, which are variously explored here. It also has implications for how history is written which go far beyond the case of classical Greece. Nothing short of a revolution in what historians are prepared to treat as source material will be required to take account of the findings of this book"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Linked Resources
Cover image
Record Appears in
On-Campus Resources > Books
All Resources
All Resources
Table of Contents
Writing history on the classical body
The appearance of the classical Greek body
The distinguished body
The citizen body
Foreign bodies
Dirty bodies
Godsbodies
Telling bodies.
The appearance of the classical Greek body
The distinguished body
The citizen body
Foreign bodies
Dirty bodies
Godsbodies
Telling bodies.