Slaves Tell Tales: And Other Episodes in the Politics of Popular Culture in Ancient Greece

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Most studies of ancient Greek politics focus on formal institutions such as the political assembly and the law courts, and overlook the role that informal social practices played in the regulation of the political order. Sara Forsdyke argues, by contrast, that various forms of popular culture in ancient Greece--including festival revelry, oral storytelling, and popular forms of justice--were a vital medium for political expression and played an important role in the negotiation of relations between elites and masses, as well as masters and slaves, in the Greek city-states. Although these forms of social life are only poorly attested in the sources, Forsdyke suggests that Greek literature reveals traces of popular culture that can be further illuminated by comparison with later historical periods. By looking beyond institutional contexts, moreover, Forsdyke recovers the ways that groups that were excluded from the formal political sphere--especially women and slaves--participated in the process by which society was ordered. Forsdyke begins each chapter with an apparently marginal incident in Greek history--the worship of a dead slave by masters on Chios, the naming of Sicyon's civic divisions after lowly animals such as pigs and asses, and the riding of an adulteress on a donkey through the streets of Cyme--and shows how these episodes demonstrate the significance of informal social practices and discourses in the regulation and reproduction of the social order. The result is an original, fascinating, and enlightening new perspective on politics and popular culture in ancient Greece.

Reviews

"[F]ascinating ..."--William Fitzgerald, Times Literary Supplement "[T]his book is certainly a welcome opening salvo for exploring the culture of subaltern groups in antiquity."--Kostas Vlassopoulos, Sehepunkte "This book deserves the careful consideration of every serious Greek historian. Forsdyke has chosen her case studies well, and each one makes for a fascinating discussion. Most importantly, her methodological approach is very effective and should introduce many ancient historians to new avenues of research even where ancient sources are sparse... The main text reads clearly and offers enough (but not too much) introductory and general material to appeal to the non-specialist reader."--Matthew A. Sears, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Author Bio

Sara Forsdyke is associate professor of classical studies at the University of Michigan. She is the author of "Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece" (Princeton).