Figures of speech: men and maidens in ancient Greece

Abstract

Over the past two hundred years, thousands of ancient Greek vases have been unearthed. Yet debate continues about what the images depicted on these vases actually meant to ancient Greek viewers. In Figures of Speech, Gloria Ferrari uses Athenian vases other works of art from the Archaic Classical periods (520 to 400BC) together with literary evidence to investigate what these monuments can tell us about Greek understandings of gender. She begins by developing a theory of visual representation, arguing that artistic images give us access to how their subjects were imagined, not necesarily to how they really were. For instance, Ferrari examines the myriad representations of women working wool demonstrates that these images serve as powerful metaphors that both reflect and help construct Greek conceptions of the ideal woman her ideal behaviour. Ferrari then uses a number of icons representing blameless femininity ideal masculinity to reevaluate rites of passage by which girls are made ready for marriage boys become men. Representations of the nude male body in Archaic statues known as kouroi, for example, serve as metaphors for manhood shed new light in the much-discussed institution of paiderastia. And imagery equating maidens with arable land weddings with buried treasure provide a fresh perspective on Greek marriage. Innovative thought provoking, Figures of Speech demonstrates how the study of visual images as well as texts will enrich our understanding of ancient Greek culture. Classicists, art historians anyone interested in gender in the ancient world should benefit from its insights.

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