Description
Book SynopsisContextualizes Lucian’s comedic performances in the intellectual life of the second century CE Roman East broadly, including philosophy, early Christian thought, and popular culture. His texts are analysed as providing a window onto non-elite attitudes and experiences.
Trade ReviewAn erudite, exciting, and methodologically sophisticated book that explores the variety of methodological issues that readers of Lucian need to grapple with. It will be essential for anyone interested in religion, philosophy, intellectual performance, or humor in the Roman Empire, or anyone interested in Lucian’s narrative voices or personae." —Pamela Gordon, University of Kansas
"A systematic, sophisticated examination of Lucian’s treatment of the gods and religion across his corpus. Combining impressive scholarship and excellent writing, Kuin offers a markedly different approach from her main non-English predecessors to the surprisingly under-studied subject of religion in Lucian." —Kendra Eshleman, Boston College
"Today, humor and religion can be a dangerous combination. It was different in antiquity, although the combination often puzzles modern students. Inger Kuin convincingly shows how Lucian uses humor and laughing to critique the gods, their worshipers, and the ongoing philosophical conversations. A highly readable and timely book!" —Jan N. Bremmer, University of Groningen, Netherlands
"The gods function, by turns, as Lucian’s comic allies, satirical targets, or characters for contemplation. Kuin’s lively book offers the first comprehensive study of Lucian’s multifarious deployment of the gods as central figures in his comic fictions, revealing their literary complexity and the surprisingly varied forms of laughter they elicited from audiences then as now. This is an erudite but accessible study that will be essential reading for anyone interested not only in Lucian and Roman Imperial literature, but in all forms of comic writing." —Ralph M. Rosen, University of Pennsylvania
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Unquenchable Laughter
- Chapter 1: Lucian in Performance: No More Hedgehogs
- Chapter 2: Laughter-loving Gods: Anthropomorphism, Imitation, and Morality
- Chapter 3: Rituals: Sacrificing to Hungry Gods
- Chapter 4: Passions: Worship and Desire
- Chapter 5: Politics: Cities of Gods and Men
- Chapter 6: Mediations: Oracles, Seers, and Sorcerers
- Conclusion: If There Are Gods…
- Note on Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index Locorum
- Index Rerum
