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Loading... Courtesans & Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens (original 1997; edition 1998)by James N. Davidson
Work detailsCourtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens by James Davidson (1997)
Always a good read. See status updates for more detail. (  ) comixminx | Apr 5, 2013 |  As a Classicist, I loved this book as in his introduction Davidson brilliantly talked about how difficult it can be to try and figure how things were and the choices scholars make between types of evidence. I would recommend that introduction to be read by anyone curious about the study of Ancient daily life as it aptly presents the complications and hierarchies that exist in the discipline. The book itself is a good balance of details to satisfy historians and a playful tone that makes it accessible to another reader. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to understand the culture that brought democracy into its place in the world. (  ) katekf | May 26, 2012 | There's a science publishing maxim that every equation you include halves your sales. I quite like an occasional equation, but something similar happens to my enjoyment every time a book uses the word "discourse". This is a good book, well written, obviously determined not just to be a series of lewd anecdotes, but in places it does make heavier weather of things than is quite necessary. Sometimes people who do Theory seem to think that they invented the concept of context. ( ) annesadleir | Feb 5, 2011 | Fascinating book about daily life in Athens, primarily the appetite of the Athenians for fish. ( ) Welshwoman | Apr 15, 2010 | Erudite, well written and shockingly funny, James Davidson's book on ancient Greek consumption is a joy to read. This is, I feel, a much better work than his latest offering 'The Greeks and Greek Love: A Radical Reapprasial of homosexuality in Ancient Greece'. which I found rather hard work. 'Courtesans and Fishcakes' would interest a lot of readers, regardless of any previous knowledge of the period. ( ) Stromata | Aug 21, 2009 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0006863434, Paperback)A brilliantly entertaining and innovative history of the ancient Athenians' consuming passions for food, wine and sex. Sex, shopping and fish-madness, Athenian style. This fascinating book reveals that the ancient Athenians were supreme hedonists. Their society was driven by an insatiable lust for culinary delights -- especially fish -- fine wine and pleasures of the flesh. Indeed, great fortunes were squandered and politicians' careers ruined through ritual drinking at the symposium, or the wooing of highly-coveted, costly prostitutes. James Davidson brings an incisive eye and an urbane wit to this refreshingly accessible and different history of the people who invented Europe, democracy and art.(retrieved from Amazon Sat, 02 Oct 2010 21:37:10 -0400) No library descriptions found. |
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