Giulia Sissa

This book has interesting information but is oddly organized. The first part tells of how the poets saw the gods: as having daily lives of feasting, traveling, interacting with mortals, discussing with one another. The philosophers disagreed, seeing any action as incompatible with the bliss that definitional for their concept of divinity. We also contrast the relatively stable personalities and attributes of the Olympians in mythology with the fragmented identities in which Aphrodite can be show more worshipped in one place as a goddess of sex and in another as a war goddess. Book also describes Greek ideas of citizenship, founding of cities (with the establishment of altars and patron gods an important part), and the festivals of Dionysus. show less

Che uso fanno gli dèi del tempo?
Per rispondere a questa domanda occorre prima di tutto definire un dio, quindi immaginare l’esperienza che egli ha del tempo, e infine descrivere il suo rapporto col mondo. Per definire un dio la filosofia greca si divideva fra chi sosteneva che un dio esiste in quanto agisce o fra chi concepiva gli dèi beati nella pienezza della loro immobile perfezione.
Partendo da queste premesse, adeguatamente argomentate, questo saggio a quattro mani esplora la vita show more quotidiana degli dèi greci in un confronto continuo col quotidiano dell’altro, degli uomini, affidandosi alle parole dei poeti, in primo luogo Omero, e dei filosofi antichi.
La prima parte, a cura di Giulia Sissa, è più scorrevole e trascinante col suo andamento narrativo e avventuroso, i continui richiami all’Iliade contribuiscono a creare questo effetto; la seconda parte, di competenza di Marcel Detienne, di tono più accademico, è meno movimentata ma non per questo meno interessante.

Da far precedere o affiancare alla lettura o rilettura, in particolare, dell’Iliade. show less

You'd think with a title like that that this would be a gripping story about Sex and sexual practices, well yes, but no, it's a cool academic look at the topic, with a conclusion pointing out that others have got the wrong end of the stick with this topic, particularly Foucault. The author is writing for her peers, not for the vaguely interested member of the public and it shows.

It is jargon-laden, specialised word ridden and was a pretty good cure for insomnia for me for a few days. I have show more a degree in Classical Civilization (and History) and was curious about the topic, wanted to see if she could enlighten me a bit more about sex and about how the classical audience saw it, and she did somewhat, but for most of it she ploughed familiar furroughs in the topic.

If you're studying the topic or classics this is probably for you, if you're a curious bystander it's dry, academic and reads like a written thesis. show less

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Sissa-La-jalousie-une-passion-inavouable/684653

> LA JALOUSIE: UNE PASSION INAVOUABLE, par Giulia Sissa (2015, Odile Jacob, Broché, 272 pages). — La jalousie n’est pas un monstre et, si elle avait les yeux verts, ce seraient ceux, magnifiques, d’Ava Gardner. Ce n’est pas une fantaisie ombrageuse et chagrine, une passion cruelle et petite, le symptôme d’une estime de soi défaillante. Et pourtant, c’est ainsi, par le blâme et le show more mépris, que tant de moralistes en ont parlé.
Tous ceux et celles qui l’ont éprouvée savent très bien que la jalousie n’est pas infime et étriquée, délirante et ridicule. Mais il faudrait en penser tout le mal possible. Il faudrait la soigner, l’éradiquer, la répudier et, surtout, ne jamais l’admettre. La jalousie est une passion inavouable.
Que faire alors ? Continuer à taire ce sentiment parce qu’il n’est pas « politiquement correct » ? Ou bien, à l’instar des héroïnes de la tragédie grecque, le revendiquer comme une attente de réciprocité ? Rendue à son histoire, la jalousie révèle la nature intense et inquiète de l’amour, qui est désir de désir.
—Johnny Gimenez (Culturebox) show less