Women and Humor in Classical Greece [Hardcover]

This examines the role of women as producers of joking speech, especially within cults of Demeter.Women and Humor in Classical Greece examines the role of women as producers of joking speech, especially within cults of Demeter. This speech, sometimes known as aischrologia, had considerable weight and vitality within its cultic context. It also shaped literary traditions, notably iambic and Attic old comedy that has traditionally been regarded as entirely male. O'Higgins considers this speech from its mythical origins in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, through the reactive iambic tradition and into old comedy.Women and Humor in Classical Greece examines the role of women as producers of joking speech, especially within cults of Demeter. This speech, sometimes known as aischrologia, had considerable weight and vitality within its cultic context. It also shaped literary traditions, notably iambic and Attic old comedy that has traditionally been regarded as entirely male. O'Higgins considers this speech from its mythical origins in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, through the reactive iambic tradition and into old comedy.Laurie O'Higgins examines the role of women as producers of joking speech, especially within cults of Demeter. She considers the speech from its mythical origins in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, through the reactive iambic tradition and into old comedy. Sometimes known as aischrologia, this speech had considerable weight and vitality within its cultic context. It also influenced literary traditions, notably iambic and Attic old comedy traditionally regarded as entirely male.Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Cultic obscenity in Greece, especially Attica; 2. Iambe and the Hymn to Demeter; 3. Iambic's relationship with the female; 4. Women's iambic voices; 5. Comedy and women; 6. Women at centre stage; Notes; Bibliography; Index. O'Higgins writes well and her interpretations are carefully argued and imaginative. No other book deals with this range of materials. lC,