{"title":"Beautiful Bodies, Beautiful Minds: Some Applications of Disability Studies to Homer","authors":"J. Christensen","doi":"10.1353/clw.2021.0020","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:This paper applies theoretical frameworks from disability studies to the Homeric epics to explore how agency is communicated through the representation of heroic bodies. After exploring the exceptional ugliness of Thersites in respect to the poetics of beauty in the Iliad, I argue that the Odyssey adapts notions of a functional body to privilege mental ability over physical strength. Such an adaptation complements rather than negates Iliadic values. The Odyssey's emphasis on Odysseus' marked and post-heroic body positions experience as a marker of agency re-positions bodily perfection as a symbol of perversity.","PeriodicalId":46369,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL WORLD","volume":"114 1","pages":"365 - 393"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"CLASSICAL WORLD","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/clw.2021.0020","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"CLASSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT:This paper applies theoretical frameworks from disability studies to the Homeric epics to explore how agency is communicated through the representation of heroic bodies. After exploring the exceptional ugliness of Thersites in respect to the poetics of beauty in the Iliad, I argue that the Odyssey adapts notions of a functional body to privilege mental ability over physical strength. Such an adaptation complements rather than negates Iliadic values. The Odyssey's emphasis on Odysseus' marked and post-heroic body positions experience as a marker of agency re-positions bodily perfection as a symbol of perversity.
期刊介绍：
Classical World (ISSN 0009-8418) is the quarterly journal of The Classical Association of the Atlantic States, published on a seasonal schedule with Fall (September-November), Winter (December-February), Spring (March-May), and Summer (June-August) issues. Begun in 1907 as The Classical Weekly, this peer-reviewed journal publishes contributions on all aspects of Greek and Roman literature, history, and society.
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