In The Feminine Matrix of Sex and Gender in Classical Athens, Kate Gilhuly explores the relationship between the prostitute, the wife, and the ritual performer in Athenian literature. She suggests that these three roles formed a symbolic continuum that served as an alternative to a binary conception of gender in classical Athens and provided a framework for assessing both masculine and feminine civic behavior. Grounded in close readings of four texts, "Against Neaira," Plato's Symposium, Xenophon's Symposium, and Aristophanes' Lysistrata, this book draws upon observations from gender studies and the history of sexuality in ancient Greece to illuminate the relevance of these representations of women to civic behavior, pederasty, philosophy, and politics. In these original readings, Gilhuly casts a new light on the complexity of the classical Athenian sex/gender system, demonstrating how various and even opposing strategies worked together to articulate different facets of the Athenian subject.
Author(s): Kate Gilhuly
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 220
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 11
Abbreviations......Page 13
THE FEMININE MATRIX......Page 15
SCRIPTING GENDER......Page 25
MASCULINITY: PREROGATIVES AND CONSTRAINTS......Page 33
THE STRUCTURE OF THE ARGUMENT......Page 38
INTRODUCTION......Page 43
NEAIRA......Page 52
PHANO......Page 58
STEPHANOS AND THE BATTLE OF PLATAIA......Page 63
CONCLUSION......Page 68
INTRODUCTION: SYMPOSIA HIGH AND LOW......Page 72
SHE’S NOT THERE......Page 76
GENDER ASYMMETRY AND PEDERASTY......Page 81
BEYOND THE BINARY: RECONSTRUCTING GENDER......Page 90
SOCRATES AND THE FEMININE CONTINUUM......Page 100
THE CITY AND THE PHILOSOPHER......Page 105
INTRODUCTION......Page 112
THE SPECTACLE OF THE SYMPOSIUM......Page 114
ENTERTAINMENT......Page 124
ELITE DISPLAY......Page 133
THE POLIS AND THE GAZE......Page 140
INTRODUCTION......Page 154
RITUAL AND EROTICS......Page 156
THE PRIESTESS......Page 162
PROSTITUTES......Page 168
OATH SACRIFICE......Page 169
RITUAL HIERARCHIES......Page 172
THE SURROGATE......Page 178
WOMEN AS ANIMALS......Page 183
MEN AS WOMEN......Page 190
Conclusion......Page 194
Bibliography......Page 203
Index Locorum......Page 213
Subject Index......Page 219
