Growing Up Fatherless in Antiquity

ISBN-13: 9780521490504 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 350 str.

Opis

As the changes in the traditional family accelerated toward the end of the twentieth century, a great deal of attention came to focus on fathers, both modern and ancient. While academics and politicians alike singled out the conspicuous and growing absence of the modern father as a crucial factor affecting contemporary family and social dynamics, ancient historians and classicists have rarely explored ancient father-absence, despite the likelihood that nearly a third of all children in the ancient Mediterranean world were fatherless before they turned fifteen. The proportion of children raised by single mothers, relatives, step-parents, or others was thus at least as high in antiquity as it is today. This book assesses the wide-ranging impact high levels of chronic father-absence had on the cultures, politics, and families of the ancient world.

Recenzje

'Uniformly excellent … The chapters in this book are very effective reminders of the lasting emotional distress of growing up without a father … this book represents a welcome attempt to supplement demographic studies of ancient families with investigations of specific situations involving historical actors and literary characters.' Raymond Van Dam, AHB Online Reviews

Spis treści

List of figures; List of tables; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; Note on abbreviations; Introduction: 1. Fatherless antiquity? Perspectives on 'fatherlessness' in the ancient Mediterranean Sabine R. Hübner and David M. Ratzan; Part I. Coping with Demographic Realities: 2. The demographic background Walter Scheidel; 3. Oedipal complexities Mark Golden; 4. Callirhoe's dilemma: remarriage and stepfathers in the Graeco-Roman east Sabine R. Hübner; 5. 'Without father, without mother, without genealogy': fatherlessness in the Old and New Testaments Marcus Sigismund; Part II. Virtual Fatherlessness: 6. Bastardy and fatherlessness in ancient Greece Daniel Ogden; 7. Fatherlessness and formal identification in Roman Egypt Myrto Malouta; Part III. Roles without Models: 8. Diomedes, the fatherless hero of the Iliad Louise Pratt; 9. Sons (and daughters) without fathers: fatherlessness in the Homeric epics Georg Wöhrle; 10. Absent Roman fathers in the writings of their daughters: Cornelia and Sulpicia Judith P. Hallett; Part IV. Rhetoric of Loss: 11. The disadvantages and advantages of being fatherless: the case of Sulla Sabine Müller; 12. An imperial family man: Augustus as surrogate father to Marcus Antonius' children Ann-Cathrin Harders; 13. Cui parens non erat maximus quisque et uetustissimus pro parente: parental surrogates in imperial Roman literature Neil W.Bernstein; 14. The education of orphans: a reassessment of the evidence of Libanius Raffaella Cribiore; 15. 'Woe to those making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless': Christian ideals and the obligations of stepfathers in late antiquity Geoffrey Nathan; Bibliography; Index.