The Craft Of Zeus Myths Of Weaving And Fabric (revealing Antiquity) [Paperback]

The fundamental gesture of weaving inThe Craft of Zeusis the interlacing of warp and woof described by Plato inThe Statesman--an interweaving signifying the union of opposites. From rituals symbolizing--even fabricating--the cohesion of society to those proposed by oracles as a means of propitiating fortune; from the erotic and marital significance of weaving and the woven robe to the use of weaving as a figure for language and the fabric of the text, this lively and lucid book defines the logic of one of the central concepts in Greek and Roman thought--a concept that has persisted, woof and warp crossing again and again, as the fabric of human history has unfolded.Revealing Antiquity, a series edited by Glen Bowersock for Harvard University Press, is winning a distinctive niche for itself in the world of classical studies...The series as a whole has set...high standards for provocative and beautifully produced books, which deploy stimulating and complex material, the product of both innovative methodological insight, and a flair for refocusing on the previously marginalized. What is more, each is intelligently framed to make its arguments accessible to a wide audience and to interests outside classics...The Craft of Zeusis similarly an attractively and thoughtfully produced volume, with a distinctive methodological concern and an eye for the misplaced margin and the surprising connection...[The authors] aim not at an exhaustive coverage of the language, images and tales of weaving, but at a more essayistic approach that sets out to exemplify not merely the pervasiveness of the idea of weaving in classical culture but also a particular sense of what might be meant by amythof weaving...In sum, the somewhat surprising coupling of the vast solidity of Scheid's work on the Arval Brethren with the more mercurialleptotesof Svenbro produces a stimulating brief set of interconnected essays, whose general frame encourages a deeper awarenessl��