Human and Animal in Ancient Greece: Empathy and Encounter in Classical Literature Contributor(s): Korhonen, Tua (Author), Ruonakoski, Erika (Author) |
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ISBN: 1784537616 ISBN-13: 9781784537616 Publisher: I. B. Tauris & Company OUR PRICE: $158.40 Product Type: Hardcover Published: March 2017 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Ancient - Greece - Literary Criticism | Ancient And Classical - Philosophy | History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical |
Dewey: 880.936 |
LCCN: 2018296270 |
Series: Library of Classical Studies |
Physical Information: 1" H x 5.5" W x 8.6" (1.05 lbs) 272 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Cultural Region - Greece |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Animals were omnipresent in the everyday life and the visual arts of classical Greece. In literature, too, they had significant functions.This book discusses the role of animals - both domestic and wild - and mythological hybrid creatures in ancient Greek literature. Challenging the traditional view of the Greek anthropocentrism, the authors provide a nuanced interpretation of the classical relationship to animals. Through a close textual analysis, they highlight the emergence of the perspective of animals in Greek literature. Central to the book's enquiry is the question of empathy: investigating the ways in which ancient Greek authors invited their readers to empathise with non-human counterparts. The book presents case studies on the animal similes in the Iliad, the addresses to animals and nature in Sophocles' Philoctetes, the human-bird hybrids in The Birds by Aristophanes and the animal protagonists of Anyte's epigrams. Throughout, the authors develop an innovative methodology that combines philological and historical analysis with a philosophy of embodiment, or phenomenology of the body. |