Love among the Ruins: The Erotics of Democracy in Classical Athens
336Love among the Ruins: The Erotics of Democracy in Classical Athens
336Hardcover(New Edition)
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Overview
The Athenians imagined the perfect citizen as a noble and manly lover. But this icon conceals a multitude of other possible figures: sexy tyrants, potent pathics, and seductive perverts. Through critical re-readings of canonical texts, Wohl investigates these fantasies, which seem so antithetical to Athens's manifest ideals. She examines the interrelation of patriotism and narcissism, the trope of politics as prostitution, the elite suspicion of political pleasure, and the status of perversion within Athens's sexual and political norms. She also discusses the morbid drive that propelled Athenian imperialism, as well as democratic Athens's paradoxical fascination with the joys of tyranny.
Drawing on contemporary critical theory in original ways, Wohl sketches the relationship between citizen psyche and political life to illuminate the complex, frequently contradictory passions that structure democracy, ancient and modern.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780691095226 |
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Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
Publication date: | 12/15/2002 |
Edition description: | New Edition |
Pages: | 336 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
- FrontMatter, pg. i
- CONTENTS, pg. vii
- PREFACE, pg. ix
- Introduction: Ideological Desire, pg. 1
- Chapter I. PERICLES’ LOVERS, pg. 30
- Chapter II. PORNOS OF THE PEOPLE, pg. 73
- Chapter III. PERVERSE DESIRE: THE EROS OF ALCIBIADES, pg. 124
- Chapter IV. THE EROTICS OF EMPIRE, pg. 171
- Chapter V. WHAT DOES THE TYRANT WANT?, pg. 215
- Conclusion, pg. 270
- Bibliography, pg. 284
- Index Locorum, pg. 313
- General Index, pg. 321
What People are Saying About This
Wohl's book is an important contribution to a growing body of literature on the psychic experience of Athenian citizens and the fantasies, hopes, and fears that fuel democratic experience in general. She seriously advances the field and also challenges what have become the standard ways of thinking about sexuality in ancient Athens.
Danielle Allen, author of "The World of Prometheus"
This is a very smart, sophisticated, well-written book that offers some new and convincing readings of important texts. Wohl's reading of Athenian culture is original, exciting, and often brilliant.
Josiah Ober, author of "The Athenian Revolution" and "Political Dissent in Democratic Athens"
"Wohl's book is an important contribution to a growing body of literature on the psychic experience of Athenian citizens and the fantasies, hopes, and fears that fuel democratic experience in general. She seriously advances the field and also challenges what have become the standard ways of thinking about sexuality in ancient Athens."—Danielle Allen, author of The World of Prometheus"This is a very smart, sophisticated, well-written book that offers some new and convincing readings of important texts. Wohl's reading of Athenian culture is original, exciting, and often brilliant."—Josiah Ober, author of The Athenian Revolution and Political Dissent in Democratic Athens
Recipe
"Wohl's book is an important contribution to a growing body of literature on the psychic experience of Athenian citizens and the fantasies, hopes, and fears that fuel democratic experience in general. She seriously advances the field and also challenges what have become the standard ways of thinking about sexuality in ancient Athens."Danielle Allen, author of The World of Prometheus
"This is a very smart, sophisticated, well-written book that offers some new and convincing readings of important texts. Wohl's reading of Athenian culture is original, exciting, and often brilliant."Josiah Ober, author of The Athenian Revolution and Political Dissent in Democratic Athens