Reviews
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Hellenic Common: Greek Drama and Cultural Cosmopolitanism in the Neoliberal Era
7–10 minutesPhillip Zapkin, Hellenic Common: Greek Drama and Cultural Cosmopolitanism in the Neoliberal Era (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022). 9781003082743. Reviewed by Clare Kearns, Brown University, clare_kearns@brown.edu. African Medea; Antigone in Ferguson; Ajax in Iraq: adaptations of Greek tragedies have gone worldwide. At the same time, our world is increasingly determined by neoliberalism, a political philosophy which prioritizes privatization, the individual, and commercial profit to the detriment of public services, the collective, and economic equality. Phillip Zapkin’s new…
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Inszenierung von Identitäten: Unteritalische Vasenmalerei zwischen Griechen und Indigenen
10–16 minutesU. Kästner and S. Schmidt, eds., Inszenierung von Identitäten: Unteritalische Vasenmalerei zwischen Griechen und Indigenen, Beihefte zum Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Deutschland Band VIII (München: C.H. Beck, 2018). 9783769637793. Reviewed by Ricarda Meisl, New York University, rm5284@nyu.edu. The Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum hardly needs an introduction; for a century it has now been the go-to publication for ancient ceramics from twenty-eight countries, including catalogues of collections and specialised supplements, such as this eighth Beiheft zum Corpus Vasorum…
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Casting the Parthenon Sculptures from the Eighteenth Century to the Digital Age
12–18 minutesEmma M. Payne, Casting the Parthenon Sculptures from the Eighteenth Century to the Digital Age (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021). 9781350120341. Reviewed by Kaley Aguero, Villanova University, kaguero@villanova.edu. In Casting the Parthenon Sculptures from the Eighteenth Century to the Digital Age (2021), Emma M. Payne examines the history and importance of Parthenon cast collections from the eighteenth century through the present day. The majority of this book provides historical context regarding the cast collections in order…
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Ciceros emanzipatorische Leserführung
17–25 minutesChristopher Diez, Ciceros emanzipatorische Leserführung: Studien zum Verhältnis von dialogisch-rhetorischer Inszenierung und skeptischer Philosophie in De natura deorum, Palingenesia 128 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2021). 9783515130264. Reviewed by Peter Osorio, University of Toronto, peter.osorio@utoronto.ca. Cicero’s De natura deorum (ND) dramatizes its author’s lifelong interest in understanding and even reforming norms of Roman life in the light of what reason, as variously determined by the philosophical schools of Athens, demands. If Roman cult, based on the…
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Lucretius On Disease: The Poetics of Morbidity
7–10 minutesGeorge Kazantzidis, Lucretius On Disease: The Poetics of Morbidity in De Rerum Natura (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021). Reviewed by Anastasiia Starovoitova, University of Southern California, starovoi@usc.edu. In Lucretius on Disease: The Poetics of Morbidity in De Rerum Natura, George Kazantzidis takes an innovative approach to the topic of morbidity by focusing on disease as playing a more complex and constructive role than it is usually granted. As Kazantzidis argues, scholarship has traditionally viewed disease in…
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Nectar of the Gods: From Hera’s Hurricane to the Appletini of Discord. 75 Mythical Cocktails to Drink Like a Deity
7–10 minutesLiv Albert and Thea Engst, Nectar of the Gods: From Hera’s Hurricane to the Appletini of Discord. 75 Mythical Cocktails to Drink Like a Deity (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2022). 9781507217993. Reviewed by Brooke Kolhagen, University of North Texas, brookekolhagen@gmail.com. Nectar of the Gods, far from the average cookbook, is a collection of cocktail recipes themed around tales and figures from Greco-Roman mythology. The book is co-authored by Liv Albert, who is responsible for…
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Abused Bodies in Roman Epic
13–19 minutesAndrew M. McClellan, Abused Bodies in Roman Epic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019). Reviewed by Courtney Evans, Duke University, courtney.evans@duke.edu. This project, originating from McClellan’s dissertation, seeks to offer a “fundamental re-evaluation of violence and warfare in Latin epic” (17) by shifting our interpretive lens onto the corpses of epic, viewing them as “characters” which demand our attention. In this McClellan is largely, though not entirely, successful. Chapter 1 sets the stage for much of…
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Ritual in Deuteronomy: The Performance of Doom
8–12 minutesMelissa D. Ramos, Ritual in Deuteronomy: The Performance of Doom (London: Routledge, 2021). 9781138570986. Reviewed by Joseph Scales, independent scholar, josephdscales@gmail.com. Ritual in Deuteronomy is a fascinating yet broad topic. Previous studies have examined various elements of Deuteronomy and ritual practice or theory. Ramos adds to this body of work through an examination of chapters 27–30 in this revised PhD thesis. These chapters, and comparative material in the Mesopotamian ritual texts Maqlû and Šurpu, form the basis of the study, which…
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Archaeology in the Smallest Realm: Micro Analyses and Methods for the Reconstruction of Early Societies on Cyprus
16–25 minutesMarialucia Amadio, ed., Archaeology in the Smallest Realm: Micro Analyses and Methods for the Reconstruction of Early Societies on Cyprus (Rome: Artemide Edizioni, 2021). 9788875753795. Reviewed by Christine L. Johnston, Western Washington University, Christine.johnston@wwu.edu. This slim volume (166 pp.) presents ten studies of archaeological microanalysis, focusing in particular on the enhanced benefits of integrating macro- and micro-scale archaeological approaches to the study of early Cyprus. Originally intended as an in-person workshop before the coronavirus pandemic,…
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Acta Martyrum Scillitanorum: A Literary Commentary
8–12 minutesVincent Hunink, Acta Martyrum Scillitanorum: A Literary Commentary. Giornale Italiano di Filologia Bibliotheca 24 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2021). 9782503590950. Reviewed by Jared Secord, University of Calgary, jaredjohn.secord@ucalgary.ca The Acts of the Scilitan Martyrs (henceforth ASM) has traditionally been regarded as one of the earliest works of Christian Latin literature. It narrates the encounter between a group of Christians from the North African town of Scili and the Roman proconsul Saturninus, with this meeting dated by the…
Rhea Classical Reviews 