Food and Society in Classical Antiquity

Erscheinungsjahr 2006
ISBN: 978-0-521-64588-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 190 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 287 g

Reihe: Key Themes in Ancient History

This is the first study of food in classical antiquity that treats it as both a biological and a cultural phenomenon. The variables of food quantity, quality and availability, and the impact of disease, are evaluated and a judgement reached which inclines to pessimism. Food is also a symbol, evoking other basic human needs and desires, especially sex, and performing social and cultural roles which can be either integrative or divisive. The book explores food taboos in Greek, Roman, and Jewish society, and food-allocation within the family, as well as more familiar cultural and economic polarities which are highlighted by food and eating. The author draws on a wide range of evidence new and old, from written sources to human skeletal remains, and uses both comparative historical evidence from early modern and contemporary developing societies and the anthropological literature, to create a case-study of food in antiquity.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Garnsey, Peter

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophische Anthropologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Preface; Introduction: food, substance and symbol; 1. Diet; 2. Food and the economy; 3. Food crisis; 4. Malnutrition; 5. Otherness; 6. Forbidden foods; 7. Food and the family; 8. Haves and havenots; 9. You are with whom you eat; Conclusion: choice and necessity; Bibliographical essay; Bibliography; Index.