Alexander the Great: Myth, Genesis and Sexuality - Rilegato

Ogden, Daniel

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0859898377 ISBN 13: 9780859898379

Casa editrice: Liverpool Univ Pr, 2011

Riassunto

Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) has become a figure emblematic of his age—as well as one continually reassessed in our own time by generations of scholars, historians, and critics. This is the first volume devoted specifically to the study of Alexander’s sexuality and its representation and Ogden’s accessible presentation of the myths and critical narratives behind this heroic figure makes it a perfect volume for any student of ancient history. Along the way, the author draws us in to captivating issues as diverse as Alexander’s relationship with his wife Barsine; the mythology behind accounts of his siring by a thunderbolt or giant snake; the recurring representation of Alexander’s mother Olympias as a witch; and the various commentaries on Alexander’s homosexual engagement with his companion Hephaestion.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Daniel Ogden is professor of ancient history at the University of Exeter.

Daniel Ogden is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Exeter. He has published substantially on the ancient world; his previous books include 'Greek Bastardy in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods' (OUP, 1996), 'The Crooked Kings of Ancient Greece' (Duckworth, 1997), 'Greek and Roman Necromancy' (Princeton University Press, 2001), 'Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: a Sourcebook' (OUP USA, 2002), 'A Companion to Greek Religion' (edited, Blackwell, 2007).

Product Description:

What are ancient texts saying to us when they describe Alexander the Great's romantic relationship with his wife Barsine, or comment on his homosexual relationship with Hephaestion? What did it mean when the ancient writers told that Alexander had been sired by a thunderbolt or by a gigantic snake? What did it mean when they represented his mother Olympias as a witch? These questions and others are addressed in Alexander the Great: Myth and Sexuality. In this book, Daniel Ogden discusses the mythologizing of procreation and sex in the ancient traditions surrounding Alexander. From the author's Introduction: 'A quick review of [...] chapter titles will suggest that the first half [...] answers the title's promise of 'myth' and the second half that of 'sexuality', but in fact the entire volume is devoted to what may be termed 'myth' of one sort or another. Its central and unifying subject is the mythologizing of procreation and sex in the traditions surrounding the figure of Alexander the Great: accordingly, it comprises both treatments of the narratives spun around his own siring and birth on the one hand, and treatments of the narratives spun around the king's own procreative and sexual career on the other. A significant amount of this mythologizing [...] took root in Alexander's own age. The remainder of it is the product of subsequent tradition, a tradition that was evidently in vigorous development already within a few years of Alexander's death.'

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Liverpool Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0859898377
• ISBN 13: 9780859898379
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 276