| Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World Contributor(s): Faraone, Christopher A. (Editor), McClure, Laura K. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0299213145 ISBN-13: 9780299213145 Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press OUR PRICE: $23.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: February 2006 Annotation: "Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World explores the implications of sex-for-pay across a broad span of time, from ancient Mesopotamia to the early Christian period. In ancient times, although they were socially marginal, prostitutes connected with almost every aspect of daily life. They sat in brothels and walked the streets; they paid taxes and set up dedications in religious sanctuaries; they appeared as characters--sometimes admirable, sometimes despicable--on the comic stage and in the law courts; they lived lavishly, consorting with famous poets and politicians; and they participated in otherwise all-male banquets and drinking parties, where they aroused jealousy among their anxious lovers. The chapters in this volume examine a wide variety of genres and sources, from legal and religious tracts to the genres of lyric poetry, love elegy, and comic drama to the graffiti scrawled on the walls of ancient Pompeii. These essays reflect the variety and vitality of the debates engendered by the last three decades of research by confronting the ambiguous terms for prostitution in ancient languages, the difficulty of distinguishing the prostitute from the woman who is merely promiscuous or adulterous, the question of whether sacred or temple prostitution actually existed in the ancient Near East and Greece, and the political and social implications of literary representations of prostitutes and courtesans. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Psychology | Human Sexuality (see Also Social Science - Human Sexuality) - Social Science | Women's Studies - History | Ancient - General |
| Dewey: 306.740 |
| LCCN: 2005005455 |
| Series: Wisconsin Studies in Classics (Paperback) |
| Physical Information: 0.79" H x 6.36" W x 8.98" (1.08 lbs) 376 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Sex & Gender - Feminine |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Oxbow says: This collection of fourteen studies on the subject of prostitutes and courtesans covers a great deal of ancient history from ancient Mesopotamia to the early Christian period. First delivered as papers at a conference held in Madison-Wisconsin in 2002, the contributors approach the subject from a number of perspectives and use a range of different source material, from poetry and legal documents to graffiti. The essays themselves raise a series of questions surrounding the place of prostitutes within society, including those of a moral and legal nature. Despite their social marginalisation, prostitutes are found on the streets, the stage, at banquets and in the law courts. These studies not only consider how prostitutes figured in everyday life, but also explore their relationship with religion, asking whether sacred or cultic prostitution existed, with political and politicians, as well as their presence as characters in comedy and other public performance. Ambiguities of terminology, how prostitutes were differentiated from promiscuous or adulterous women, and how references to prostitutes in ancient sources are to be interpreted, are also raised. |