Rape in Antiquity: Sexual Violence in the Greek and Roman Worlds

Description

How did the Greeks and Romans perceive rape? How seriously was it taken, and who were seen as its main victims? The classical scholars who have contributed to this volume look at social and legal realities of rape in the ancient world, and also at the numerous myths of rape which themselves may reflect real behaviour and attitudes. Modern readers, used to a discourse which focuses on the question of a woman's (or man's) consent to sexual activity and treats an unwilling partner as a victim worthy of sympathy, may find in ancient attitudes much that is disturbing. The twelve chapters in Rape in Antiquity cover topics ranged under six main headings: Athenian legal discourse; Greek myth; Greek art; Greek and Roman drama; Greek and Roman historiography; and Byzantine and Western medieval worlds. This first paperback edition of the book includes a new Preface by the editors bringing the volume up to date with the most recent scholarly developments. Contributors: Karim Arafat, James Arieti, Lucy Byrne, Susan Deacy, Thomas Harrison, Keith Hopwood, Martin Kilmer, Daniel Ogden, Rosanna Omitowoju, Karen F. Pierce, James Robson and Corinne Saunders. Contents Preface to the Paperback Edition, 2002 ATHENIAN LEGAL DISCOURSE 1. Regulating rape: soap operas and self-interest in the Athenian courts • Rosanna Omitowoju 2. Rape, adultery and protection of bloodlines in classical Athens • Daniel Ogden GREEK MYTH 3. The vulnerability of Athena: parthenoi and rape in Greek myth • Susan Deacy 4. Bestiality and bestial rape in Greek myth • J.E. Robson GREEK ART 5. State of the art – art of the State: sexual violence and politics in Late Archaic and Early Classical vase-painting • K.W. Arafat 6. Rape in early red-figure pottery: violence and threat in homo-erotic and hetero-erotic contexts • Martin Kilmer GREEK AND ROMAN DRAMA 7. Fear in the Seven against Thebes • Lucy Byrne 8. The portrayal of rape in New Comedy • Karen F. Pierce GREEK AND ROMAN HISTORIOGRAPHY 9. Herodotus and the ancient Greek idea of rape • Thomas Harrison 10. Rape and Livy’s view of Roman history • James A. Arieti BYZANTINE AND WESTERN MEDIEVAL WORLDS 11. Byzantine princesses and lustful Turks • Keith Hopwood 12. Classical paradigms of rape in the Middle Ages • Corinne J. Saunders Index