A cultural history of the senses in Antiquity / edited by Jerry Toner.

Originally published in 2014.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : sensing the ancient past / Jerry Toner -- The social life of the senses : feasts and funerals / David Potter -- Urban sensations : opulence and ordure / Gregory S. Aldrete -- The senses in the marketplace : the luxury market and eastern trade in imperial Rome / Andrew Wallace-Hadrill -- The senses in religion : piety, critique, competition / Susan Ashbrook Harvey -- The senses in philosophy and science : five conceptions from Heraclitus to Plato / Ashley Clements -- Medicine and the senses : humors, potions, and spells / Helen King and Jerry Toner -- The senses in literature : falling in love in an ancient Greek novel / Silvia Montiglio -- Art and the senses : the artistry of bodies, stages, and cities in the Greco-Roman world / Mark Bradley -- Sensory media : representation, communication, and performance in ancient literature / Benjamin Eldon Stevens.

"The ancient world used the senses to express an enormous range of cultural meanings. Indeed the senses were functionally significant in all aspects of ancient life, often in a way that was complex and interconnected. Antiquity was also a period where the senses were experienced vividly: cities stank, statues were brightly painted, and literature made full use of sensory imagery to create its effects. In a steeply hierarchical world, with vast differences between the landed wealthy, the poor and the slaves, the senses played a key role in establishing and maintaining boundaries between social groups; but the use of the senses in the ancient world was not static. New religions, such as Christianity, developed their own way of using the senses, acquiring unique forms of sensory-related symbolism in processes which were slow and often contested. The aim of this volume is to provide an overview of these structures and developments, and to show how their study can yield a more nuanced understanding of the ancient world. The Cultural History of the Senses set delves into the sensory foundations of Western civilization, taking a comprehensive period-by-period approach which provides a broad understanding of the life of the senses from antiquity to the modern day. Each of the volumes explores the following topics: The Social Life of the Senses; Urban Sensations; The Senses in the Marketplace; The Senses in Religion; The Senses in Philosophy and Science; Medicine and the Senses; The Senses in Literature; The Senses in Art; and Sensory Media. Superbly illustrated, this six-volume set is the most authoritative and comprehensive historical survey of the senses available"-- Provided by publisher

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