James Davidson - Courtesans and Fishcakes - The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens

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A brilliantly entertaining and innovative history of the ancient Athenians’ consuming passions for food, wine and sex.Sex, shopping and fish-madness, Athenian style.This fascinating book reveals that the ancient Athenians were supreme hedonists. Their society was driven by an insatiable lust for culinary delights – especially fish – fine wine and pleasures of the flesh. Indeed, great fortunes were squandered and politicians’ careers ruined through ritual drinking at the symposium, or the wooing of highly-coveted, costly prostitutes.James Davidson brings an incisive eye and an urbane wit to this refreshingly accessible and different history of the people who invented Europe, democracy and art.

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James Davidson

COURTESANS & FISHCAKES

THE CONSUMING PASSIONS OF

CLASSICAL ATHENS

Courtesans and Fishcakes The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens - изображение 1

Copyright Contents COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT PRAISE DEDICATION INTRODUCTION PART I. FEASTS I Eating II Drinking PART II . DESIRE III Women and Boys IV A Purchase on the Hetaera PART III . THE CITIZEN V Bodies VI Economies PART IV . THE CITY VII Politics and Society VIII Politics and Politicians IX Tyranny and Revolution CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR NOTES ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

William Collins

An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Published by Fontana Press 1998

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 1997

Copyright © James Davidson 1997

James Davidson asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Source ISBN: 9780007329601

Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2016 ISBN: 9780007373185

Version: 2016-01-03

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Praise Contents COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT PRAISE DEDICATION INTRODUCTION PART I. FEASTS I Eating II Drinking PART II . DESIRE III Women and Boys IV A Purchase on the Hetaera PART III . THE CITIZEN V Bodies VI Economies PART IV . THE CITY VII Politics and Society VIII Politics and Politicians IX Tyranny and Revolution CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR NOTES ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

‘James Davidson shows in this stylish, persuasive, scholarly book how classical Athens relished eating, drinking and copulating … It is a serious work, though always seasoned with wit, not only because it puts forward new ideas about big issues in social and cultural history, but also because it has a message for our times, a message unobtrusively but insistently registered.’

OLIVER TAPLIN, Observer

‘Commendably sceptical, Courtesans and Fishcakes is a significant contribution to Classical studies and marks an impressive debut. We will hear more from Mr Davidson.’

CHRISTOPHER STACE, Daily Telegraph

‘“Model democracy,” or model for sensualists everywhere? Ancient Athens – or at least its ruling class – took pleasure very seriously, and this highly enjoyable study concentrates on the important things in life: food, drink and sex. There are fascinating details here about both prostitution and the hetaeras; some of Davidson’s most amusing passages tell of the faux-respectable interpretations put, by prudish scholars, on frankly pornographic vase paintings and verses … For all its entertainment value, this is a serious contribution to classical studies.’

Independent on Sunday

‘A splendid story … Davidson’s canvas is vast.’

PETER JONES, Sunday Telegraph

‘A relaxed interpretation of sensual life in the time of Pericles, Socrates and Plato. Courtesans and Fishcakes is about sex, food and drink and the part all three played in developing Athenian identity. Where others have found exploitation and outrage, Davidson is more likely to have found fun. He spars with Foucault and Freud, biographers and bishops, with open glee.’

PETER STOTHARD, The Times

‘James Davidson with skill teases out deeper meanings from ancient literature to provide an absorbing look at society and politics in the world’s first democracy. If classical history had been like this at school I might have tasted its joys long before now … This book is itself a feast.’

DAVID STAFFORD, Scotland on Sunday

‘It is fashionable for classicists to lament the passing of their light. They have largely themselves to blame. Obsessed with arid language they continued to sell their vision of eternal oranges and sunshine in a land where people ate apples and it rained a lot. So we lost sight of a world that was vibrantly alive. Books like Courtesans and Fishcakes are doing much to turn the tide … Davidson does well with his rich material. He has a fine eye for semantics. It is delightful to learn that the language of purest thought has 33 terms for abusing a tax collector – and 52 for praising a king. Courtesans and Fishcakes [is full of] good academic work, an excellent reinterpretation. But above all, Davidson brings ancient Athens unforgettably to life.’

ROSS LECKIE, The Oldie

‘A worldly study of ancient Hellenic appetites concentrating on eating, drinking, sex and politics – but mostly sex. Whether interpreting erotic images on vases, taking us room by room through a 5th century BC brothel, or explaining the various declensions of Athenian prostitutes, Davidson uses accessible yet scholarly prose.’

ANDREW ROBERTS, Mail on Sunday

‘Excellent, promising, written with biting clarity … to my delight, he blows Nietzsche full of holes and blasts Foucault out of the water. We will watch what he undertakes next with the expectation of delight.’

PETER LEVI, Spectator

‘There’s much fascinating information on the relationships in Ancient Greece between men, women, and boys.’

WILLIAM LEITH, Observer , Summer Reading

‘The motto of the ancient Athenians was “nothing in excess,” but they still knew how to enjoy themselves. James Davidson’s survey of their eating, drinking and sexual habits reveals a more inventively hedonistic society than previous studies of the period. While conspicuous consumption was taboo in the age of Socrates and Plato, the Athenians still drank vast amounts of wine, adopted a myriad of sexual positions and were as keen on exotic fish dishes as any Nineties foodie.’

The Week

‘enjoyable … a splendid debut’

Oxford Mail

‘Eating, drinking and sex were the abiding passions of Classical Athens, but have so far been treated as no more than pleasures indulged in by the wealthy. Now James Davidson puts these pleasures in the context of society and politics and comes up with some startling conclusions. If you thought you knew all about the ancient Greeks, be prepared for some surprises.’

Northern Echo

Dedication DEDICATION INTRODUCTION PART I. FEASTS I Eating II Drinking PART II . DESIRE III Women and Boys IV A Purchase on the Hetaera PART III . THE CITIZEN V Bodies VI Economies PART IV . THE CITY VII Politics and Society VIII Politics and Politicians IX Tyranny and Revolution CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR NOTES ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

For D. A. D. and G. H. D.

Contents

COVER

TITLE PAGE James Davidson

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