Engendering the Future
Engendering the Future
Any student of divination should add this book to their shelves.
Kim Beerden, The Classical Review 72,2 (2022)
Chris Mowat brings together understandings of divinatory traditions and of gender in the Late Roman Republic to consider how each influenced the performative nature of the other. The identity of the divinatory actor(s) is an important element that plays a part in confirming the correctness of interpretations, and as such gender is an important aspect in understanding divination within Roman religious traditions.
Beginning with Cicero's "On Divination", Mowat's reading shows how gender is axiomatic to – but never explicit in – the opposing viewpoints presented. Four extended case studies follow, each focusing on a specific divinatory tradition: the Sibylline Books, as written prophetic guides for the State; the portentous nature of the birth of an intersex child under the Republic, and the ritual response it garnered; the sacrificial specialism of individual diviners, specifically through the story of a woman named Martha; and, finally, the construction of prophetic dreaming in the Roman Republic. Together, these studies demonstrate how the performativity of gender informed, but was also informed by, the performativity of divination in the Roman world, in a reciprocal and inseparable relationship.
„If a reader had started to wonder if divination was still a subject capable of providing new insights on the classical world and its worldview, […] [this book is] certainly a good example of how much knowledge can still be produced and reinterpreted from studying classical divination.“
Rubén de Castro, Arys 21, 2023
„Any student of divination should add this book to their shelves. It is, however, also of much interest to those interested in ancient religions in a wider sense.“
Kim Beerden, The Classical Review 72,2 (2022)
| Reihe | Potsdamer altertumswissenschaftliche Beiträge |
|---|---|
| Band | 75 |
| ISBN | 978-3-515-12934-3 |
| Medientyp | Buch - Kartoniert |
| Auflage | 1. |
| Copyrightjahr | 2021 |
| Verlag | Franz Steiner Verlag |
| Umfang | 201 Seiten |
| Abbildungen | 2 s/w Tab. |
| Format | 17,0 x 24,0 cm |
| Sprache | Englisch |
