The invention of coinage in ancient Greece provided an arena in which rival political groups struggled to imprint their views on the world. Here Leslie Kurke analyzes the ideological functions of Greek coinage as one of a number of symbolic practices that arise for the first time in the archaic period. By linking the imagery of metals and coinage to stories about oracles, prostitutes, Eastern tyrants, counterfeiting, retail trade, and games, she traces the rising egalitarian ideology of the polis, as well as the ongoing resistance of an elitist tradition to that development. The argument thus aims to contribute to a Greek "history of ideologies," to chart the ways ideological contestation works through concrete discourses and practices long before the emergence of explicit political theory. To an elitist sensibility, the use of almost pure silver stamped with the state's emblem was a suspicious alternative to the para-political order of gift exchange. It ultimately represented the undesirable encroachment of the public sphere of the egalitarian polis. Kurke re-creates a "language of metals" by analyzing the stories and practices associated with coinage in texts ranging from Herodotus and archaic poetry to Aristotle and Attic inscriptions. She shows that a wide variety of imagery and terms fall into two opposing symbolic domains: the city, representing egalitarian order, and the elite symposium, a kind of anti-city. Exploring the tensions between these domains, Kurke excavates a neglected portion of the Greek cultural "imaginary" in all its specificity and strangeness.
A groundbreaking study of the interaction of poetry, performance, and the built environment in ancient Greece. Winner of the PROSE Award for Best Book in Classics by the Association of American Publishers In this volume, Richard Neer and Leslie Kurke develop a new, integrated approach to classical Greece: a "lyric archaeology" that combines literary and art-historical analysis with archaeological and epigraphic materials. At the heart of the book is the great poet Pindar of Thebes, best known for his magnificent odes in honor of victors at the Olympic Games and other competitions. Unlike the quintessentially personal genre of modern lyric, these poems were destined for public performance by choruses of dancing men. Neer and Kurke go further to show that they were also site-specific: as the dancers moved through the space of a city or a sanctuary, their song would refer to local monuments and landmarks. Part of Pindar's brief, they argue, was to weave words and bodies into elaborate tapestries of myth and geography and, in so doing, to re-imagine the very fabric of the city-state. Pindar's poems, in short, were tools for making sense of space. Recent scholarship has tended to isolate poetry, art, and archaeology. But Neer and Kurke show that these distinctions are artificial. Poems, statues, bronzes, tombs, boundary stones, roadways, beacons, and buildings worked together as a "suite" of technologies for organizing landscapes, cityscapes, and territories. Studying these technologies in tandem reveals the procedures and criteria by which the Greeks understood relations of nearness and distance, "here" and "there"—and how these ways of inhabiting space were essentially political. Rooted in close readings of individual poems, buildings, and works of art, Pindar, Song, and Space ranges from Athens to Libya, Sicily to Rhodes, to provide a revelatory new understanding of the world the Greeks built—and a new model for studying the ancient world.
Examining the figure of Aesop and the traditions surrounding him, Aesopic Conversations offers a portrait of what Greek popular culture might have looked like in the ancient world. What has survived from the literary record of antiquity is almost entirely the product of an elite of birth, wealth, and education, limiting our access to a fuller range of voices from the ancient past. This book, however, explores the anonymous Life of Aesop and offers a different set of perspectives. Leslie Kurke argues that the traditions surrounding this strange text, when read with and against the works of Greek high culture, allow us to reconstruct an ongoing conversation of "great" and "little" traditions spanning centuries. Evidence going back to the fifth century BCE suggests that Aesop participated in the practices of nonphilosophical wisdom (sophia) while challenging it from below, and Kurke traces Aesop's double relation to this wisdom tradition. She also looks at the hidden influence of Aesop in early Greek mimetic or narrative prose writings, focusing particularly on the Socratic dialogues of Plato and the Histories of Herodotus. Challenging conventional accounts of the invention of Greek prose and recognizing the problematic sociopolitics of humble prose fable, Kurke provides a new approach to the beginnings of prose narrative and what would ultimately become the novel. Delving into Aesop, his adventures, and his crafting of fables, Aesopic Conversations shows how this low, noncanonical figure was--unexpectedly--central to the construction of ancient Greek literature. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
Reprint, 2013, with minor corrections, of the edition published in 1991. The corrections constitute revisions of the translations of some of the Greek text; but these do not substantially change the argument of the book.
The invention of coinage in ancient Greece provided an arena in which rival political groups struggled to imprint their views on the world. Here Leslie Kurke analyzes the ideological functions of Greek coinage as one of a number of symbolic practices that arise for the first time in the archaic period. By linking the imagery of metals and coinage to stories about oracles, prostitutes, Eastern tyrants, counterfeiting, retail trade, and games, she traces the rising egalitarian ideology of the polis, as well as the ongoing resistance of an elitist tradition to that development. The argument thus aims to contribute to a Greek "history of ideologies," to chart the ways ideological contestation works through concrete discourses and practices long before the emergence of explicit political theory. To an elitist sensibility, the use of almost pure silver stamped with the state's emblem was a suspicious alternative to the para-political order of gift exchange. It ultimately represented the undesirable encroachment of the public sphere of the egalitarian polis. Kurke re-creates a "language of metals" by analyzing the stories and practices associated with coinage in texts ranging from Herodotus and archaic poetry to Aristotle and Attic inscriptions. She shows that a wide variety of imagery and terms fall into two opposing symbolic domains: the city, representing egalitarian order, and the elite symposium, a kind of anti-city. Exploring the tensions between these domains, Kurke excavates a neglected portion of the Greek cultural "imaginary" in all its specificity and strangeness.
Reprint, 2013, with minor corrections, of the edition published in 1991. The corrections constitute revisions of the translations of some of the Greek text; but these do not substantially change the argument of the book.
Rooted in close readings of individual poems, buildings, and works of art, Pindar, Song, and Space ranges from Athens to Libya, Sicily to Rhodes, to provide a revelatory new understanding of the world the Greeks built—and a new model for studying the ancient world.
Examining the figure of Aesop and the traditions surrounding him, Aesopic Conversations offers a portrait of what Greek popular culture might have looked like in the ancient world. What has survived from the literary record of antiquity is almost entirely the product of an elite of birth, wealth, and education, limiting our access to a fuller range of voices from the ancient past. This book, however, explores the anonymous Life of Aesop and offers a different set of perspectives. Leslie Kurke argues that the traditions surrounding this strange text, when read with and against the works of Greek high culture, allow us to reconstruct an ongoing conversation of "great" and "little" traditions spanning centuries. Evidence going back to the fifth century BCE suggests that Aesop participated in the practices of nonphilosophical wisdom (sophia) while challenging it from below, and Kurke traces Aesop's double relation to this wisdom tradition. She also looks at the hidden influence of Aesop in early Greek mimetic or narrative prose writings, focusing particularly on the Socratic dialogues of Plato and the Histories of Herodotus. Challenging conventional accounts of the invention of Greek prose and recognizing the problematic sociopolitics of humble prose fable, Kurke provides a new approach to the beginnings of prose narrative and what would ultimately become the novel. Delving into Aesop, his adventures, and his crafting of fables, Aesopic Conversations shows how this low, noncanonical figure was--unexpectedly--central to the construction of ancient Greek literature. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
ABOUT THE BOOK Who is Natalie Wood? On Sunday, November 29, 1981, the world woke to the news that the talented and well-loved movie star Natalie Wood was dead. She was only 43 years old. But as details of her death became known, the loss became both a tragedy and a mystery. How was it possible that she would die from the one thing that terrified her most: drowning in dark water? For many, it was inconceivable unless something more sinister occurred. Officially, the cause of death was an accident. Although the specifics are unknown, speculation by the authorities and by Robert Wagner, her husband who was on the boat with her at the time, is that she attempted to retie the dinghy that was thumping against the boat and fell in the water. Because Wagner was in a heated argument with their guest, actor Christopher Walken, he didn’t hear her fall or cry for help. In fact, some think she may have hit her head when she fell and was unable to call for help. Regardless, the heavy coat she was wearing would have hindered her attempt to save herself. Thirty years later, the mystery surrounding her death continues. In November 2011, the investigation was reopened based on “new” information, but quickly closed again with the same finding. What’s unfortunate is that Natalie Wood’s death has overshadowed the career of a talented actress. She was a celebrity throughout her career, making the transition from child star, to teen phenom and acclaimed adult actress. She starred in over 56 films, most of which were made when she was a child. She had earned three Oscar nominations by the time she was 25 years old. Her private life was equally as interesting. She was married three times, twice to actor Robert Wagner in what was considered the big Hollywood romance of the time. When she wasn’t married, she was connected romantically to many of the leading actors of her time including James Dean, Warren Beatty, and Elvis Presley. As glamorous as her life appeared, Natalie struggled with depression and insecurity, stemming from a domineering mother and an alcoholic father. Her mother, Mud was a classic showbiz mother who controlled Natalie’s career, including what pictures she’d do and firing agents when she didn’t feel they were doing their job. But Mud’s behavior went well-beyond directing Natalie’s career. She controlled everything and wasn’t opposed to using emotional and psychological manipulation to keep Natalie close. For example, she told Natalie that serial killers stabbed children in the back if they sat too close to the screen in movie theaters. As a result, Natalie was afraid to view movies anywhere but at the studio. Later while watching Natalie’s daughter, Natasha, Mud changed the locks on the doors of the house and told Natasha that her mother and stepfather, Robert Wagner, were dangerous. Mud supposedly also predicted that Natalie would die in dark water, which likely reinforced her fear. This behavior led to resentment by Natalie towards her mother. At the same time, she often felt guilty for not allowing her mother more access to her. Well-liked by her peers, close friends reported Natalie could have a dark side as well, particularly if she was drinking, according to several biographers. At 26 years old, she attempted suicide and semi-retired from her acting career. Even so, she continued to make acclaimed and though provoking films such as Inside Daisy Clover, This Property is Condemned and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Natalie started work on Brainstorm, co-starring Christopher Walken and because of his show, Hart To Hart, Wagner was not able to accompany her to Raleigh N.C. for the shoot. He made a weekend visit and became concerned about a possible affair between her and Walken.... ...buy the book to continue reading!
As the baby boomer generation approaches midlife, many dual-earner couples are struggling with issues of simultaneously caring for children while tending to aging parents. This timely book uncovers the circumstances faced by these workers, known as the “sandwiched generation”, and identifies what they need in order to fulfill their work and family responsibilities. Authors Margaret B. Neal and Leslie B. Hammer suggest the workplace as an arena for change, proposing that it adapt to the situations of today’s workers by providing flexibility and understanding the needs and priorities of families. Based on a four-year national study funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Working Couples Caring for Children and Aging Parents examines: employer and governmental initiatives affecting work and family life in the United States; supports provided to working caregivers in countries other than the United States; the effects of being “sandwiched” on work-family fit, well-being, and work; and changes in work and family roles and outcomes over time. This book will interest a broad audience, including students, policymakers, family care practitioners, IO psychologists, work-life professionals, gerontologists, sociologists, human resource managers, and occupational health psychologists.
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