Women and Slaves in Classical Culture examines how ancient societies were organized around slave-holding and the subordination of women to reveal how women and slaves interacted with one another in both the cultural representations and the social realities of the Greco-Roman world.
The contributors explore a broad range of evidence including:
* the mythical constructions of epic and drama
* the love poems of Ovid
* the Greek medical writers
* Augustine's autobiography
* a haunting account of an unnamed Roman slave
* the archaeological remains of a slave mining camp near Athens.
They argue that the distinctions between male and female and servile and free were inextricably connected.
This erudite and well-documented book provokes questions about how we can hope to recapture the experience and subjectivity of ancient women and slaves and addresses the ways in which femaleness and servility interacted with other forms of difference, such as class, gender and status. Women and Slaves in Classical Culture offers a stimulating and frequently controversial insight into the complexities of gender and status in the Greco-Roman world.

About the Author

Sandra R. Joshel teaches ancient history, myth and culture and women's studies in the Liberal Arts Department of the New England Conservatory of Music. She is the author of Work, Identity and Legal Status at Rome: A Study of the Occupational Inscriptions (1992). Sheila Murnaghan is Associate Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Disguise and Recognition in the Odyssey (1987).

Reviews
'The editor's introduction is exceptionally good in drawing out the methodological threads which unite these exciting essays and makes a very provocative first reading for any undergraduate or non-specialist approaching the subject for the first time.' - JACT Review; 'Valuable for offering current thinking and investigations into areas that remain even today under-studied and under-represented in scholarship on classical society.' - Bryn Mawr, Classical Review; Author's previous publications include:Sandra R. Joshel: Work, Identity and Legal Status at Rome: A Study of Occupational Inscriptions (Oklahoma University Press, 1992)



Book Information
ISBN 9780415261593
Author Sandra R. Joshel
Format Paperback
Page Count 300
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 462g