Monsters in Greek literature are often thought of as creatures which
exist in mythological narratives, however, as this book shows, they
appear in a much broader range of ancient sources and are used in
creation narratives, ethnographic texts, and biology to explore the
limits of the human body and of the human world. This book provides an
in-depth examination of the role of monstrosity in ancient Greek
literature. In the past, monsters in this context have largely been
treated as unimportant or analysed on an individual basis. By focusing
on genres rather than single creatures, the book provides a greater
understanding of how monstrosity and abnormal bodies are used in
ancient sources. Very often ideas about monstrosity are used as a
contrast against which to examine the nature of what it is to be
human, both physically and behaviourally. This book focuses on
creation narratives, ethnographic writing, and biological texts. These
three genres address the origins of the human world, its spatial
limits, and the nature of the human body; by examining monstrosity in
these genres we can see the ways in which Greek texts construct the
space and time in which people exist and the nature of our bodies.
This book is aimed primarily at scholars and students undertaking
research, not only those with an interest in monstrosity, but also
scholars exploring cultural representations of time (especially the
primordial and mythological past), ancient geography and ethnography,
and ancient philosophy and science. As the representation of monsters
in antiquity was strongly influential on medieval, renaissance, and
early modern images and texts, this book will also be relevant to
people researching these areas.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781000392647
Publisert
2021
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Routledge
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter