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Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens, by James N. Davidson
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As any reader of the Symposium knows, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates conversed over lavish banquets, kept watch on who was eating too much fish, and imbibed liberally without ever getting drunk. In other words, James Davidson writes, he reflected the culture of ancient Greece in which he lived, a culture of passions and pleasures, of food, drink, and sex before—and in concert with—politics and principles. Athenians, the richest and most powerful of the Greeks, were as skilled at consuming as their playwrights were at devising tragedies. Weaving together Greek texts, critical theory, and witty anecdotes, this compelling and accessible study teaches the reader a great deal, not only about the banquets and temptations of ancient Athens, but also about how to read Greek comedy and history.
- Sales Rank: #1002442 in Books
- Published on: 2011-06-30
- Released on: 2011-06-30
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .90" w x 6.00" l, 1.20 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 400 pages
Amazon.com Review
Desire is a dangerous thing, and the relationship between the citizens of ancient Athens and their desires was a complex and troubled one. James Davidson's Courtesans and Fishcakes is a brilliant and kaleidoscopic examination of daily life in classical Athens, and the life he reveals is simultaneously more alien and more familiar than we might have imagined. From fish-guzzling gourmands to the ambiguous eroticism of vase paintings, the cradle of Western culture is artfully, and frequently amusingly, anatomized. Davidson believes that many historians, under the influence of Foucault, are guilty of imposing modern views of desire, and particularly sexuality, on Greek culture, resulting in a simplistic interpretation of what was an extremely complicated issue. He refutes the prevailing opinion that sex in Athens was a simple binary opposition of penetrator and penetrated, drawing on a remarkable number of sources to show how sexuality was a slippery commodity rooted in intricate social negotiations, a characteristic shared with many other objects of desire, from eels to undiluted wine. Davidson sometimes assumes a little too much knowledge on the part of his audience--some basic information about the size of the Athenian population would have been helpful--but in spite of this Courtesans and Fishcakes is both accessible and provocative, offering a fascinating portrait of the private and public lives of ancient Athenians. --Simon Leake
From Publishers Weekly
British historian Davidson takes us inside classical Greece's brothels, bedrooms, drinking parties and banquets in this rarefied scholarly inquiry. His aim is not merely to depict Athenians as pleasure seekers but to overturn the current notion, purveyed by Michel Foucault and others, that Athens was a "phallocratic" society permeated with an ethos of penetration and domination, a homosexual-leaning culture polarized between adult male citizens and all others?slaves, women, boys, foreigners. He largely succeeds on all counts, bringing to convivial life a predominantly heterosexual society where classes mingled easily; cultured courtesans bedded leading figures like Pericles and Alcibiades; and wives participated fully in sexual pleasures. Drawing on ancient treatises, pamphlets, comic plays, poems and speeches, Davidson investigates the classical Greeks' indulgences, including their mania for eating fish?a luxury viewed as hedonistic?and their tolerance for booze and sex (though sex addicts were considered to have a lower capacity to resist the natural pleasures). His intriguing study serves up a banquet of arcane lore. Illustrations.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Eating, drinking, and sex: the three consuming passions delineated by Plato and Aristotle are the focuses of British historian Davidson's work. The ancient Athenians, he regrets, have been given little credit for the depth of their decadence in these three areas. Davidson's research into the cultural role of fish and fishmongers is a fascinating theme. He explores the absence of fish in sacrifices (and in the Iliad) and contrasts it with the unchallenged importance of fish in the Greek diet. Also significant is the archaeology of the drinking cup, in conjunction with what Davidson calls the axis of drinking and how depth (both of the cup and the drinker's appetite) was key to the drinking ritual. This work probes the mysteries of sexual desire in Athens and discusses the various terms for women outside the domestic sphere. Davidson tries to define their cultural roles and here and elsewhere challenges even Foucault and Freud. Highly recommended for academic collections and large public libraries.?Claibourne G. Williams, Ferris State Univ., Big Rapids, MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Piscine Irresistibility
By Greg Polansky
In this cultural history of Athens in its heyday, ie the High Classical period, Davidson explores what drove the Athenians. And what was it? Eating and drinking and sex. Specifically Davidson is looking at what the Greeks had to say about these pleasures. By exploring each in turn, Davidson is able to reconstruct what the Athens of this period was like. Or at least some facets of this Athens. Davidson is able to illuminate this world by analyzing the plays of the Ancient Greeks that were written during this time. Sadly not all the plays of this period have survived so we don't get the whole picture. And using plays that are comedic in itself can be considered a dangerous source as we don't know what was true and what was hyperbole.
Still, this is a fascinating history. If you enjoy cultural history, then being able to learn about the motivations of the Athenians during this period is something you will enjoy. Its a window into these peoples' lives and serves to humanize them. Political history is great, but this cultural history actually allows you to see how the Greeks thought about their world by looking at a subject matter that remains relevant to us more than two thousand years later.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Excerpts from Ancient Greek Playboy Magazine?
By T. Dodge
James Davidson's Courtesans and Fishcakes provides an "extracurricular" view of ancient Greek ways, manners, and mores. It is a work both enlightening and maddeningly unfocused having sources including the writings from 'theatre' and 'traditional' authors known for their more cerebral works. The author is faced with the incredibly difficult dilemma of determining the genuineness of scenes that represent sincerity or comic parody. Davidson draws from the arts and artifacts of these worlds, and commentaries penned centuries after the collapse of Greek culture and economy as additional sources for his interpretations.
The author explores the roles of food, drink, and sex to provide social and political insights in ancient Greece. Most would not consider looking for big picture lessons by studying public and private means that commoners, courtesans, and commanders satisfied their primitive instincts. But their are insights that Davidson provides by just such an approach. I now have numerous reasons to question many of my beliefs of Greek as only pugnacious and terribly staid scholarly chaps. Davidson's book opens a door into a fascinating approach to history. I will await his next volume.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Interesting Read.
By Meg S.
It's difficult to find books on Ancient Greece that have a new or different slant, but Davidson's book is full of interesting facts about how the Ancient Athenians ate and drank and how it tied into their social and political life. I especially appreciated reading about Athenian taverns, as they don't often come up in other sources. It gives a more complete picture of a regular citizen's life in the polis.
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