Constructing Gender in The Comic Mode: Perspectives on Greek and Roman Comic Literature

Gender was not theorised as such in Greco-Roman culture. Nonetheless, the concept of gender was never static or stable over the centuries—and if gender is a social construct, it is inevitably also a literary one. Ancient society and literature develop a dialectical, co-dependent dynamic in shaping and promulgating gender norms, perpetuating or challenging stereotypes. The book focuses on the construction of gender "in the comic mode", that is, in literary genres including, beyond comedy its...