Myths are not simple narrative plots. In ancient Greece, as in other traditional societies, these tales existed only in the poetic or artistic forms in which they were set down. To read them from an anthropological point of view means to study their meaning according to their forms of expression - epic recitation, ritual celebration of the victory of an athlete, tragic performance, erudite Alexandrian poetry, antiquarian prose text; in other words, to study the functions of Greek myths in their permanent retelling and reshaping. Falling between social reality and cultural fiction, Greek myths were evolving creations, constantly adapting themselves to new conditions of performance. Using myths such as those of Persephone, Bellerophon, Helen and Teiresias, Claude Calame presents an overview of Greek mythology as a category inseparable from the literature in which so much of it is found. The French edition of this book was first published in 2000.

Greek Mythology: Poetics, Pragmatics and Fiction

Literature & Fiction

Calame, Claude

History & Criticism

Cambridge University Press

The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece offers the first comprehensive inquiry into the deity of sexual love, a power that permeated daily Greek life. Avoiding Foucault's philosophical paradigm of dominance/submission, Claude Calame uses an anthropological and linguistic approach to re-create indigenous categories of erotic love. He maintains that Eros, the joyful companion of Aphrodite, was a divine figure around which poets constructed a physiology of desire that functioned in specific ways within a network of social relations. Calame begins by showing how poetry and iconography gave a rich variety of expression to the concept of Eros, then delivers a history of the deity's roles within social and political institutions, and concludes with a discussion of an Eros-centered metaphysics.
 Calame's treatment of archaic and classical Greek institutions reveals Eros at work in initiation rites and celebrations, educational practices, the Dionysiac theater of tragedy and comedy, and in real and imagined spatial settings. For men, Eros functioned particularly in the symposium and the gymnasium, places where men and boys interacted and where future citizens were educated. The household was the setting where girls, brides, and adult wives learned their erotic roles--as such it provides the context for understanding female rites of passage and the problematics of sexuality in conjugal relations. Through analyses of both Greek language and practices, Calame offers a fresh, subtle reading of relations between individuals as well as a quick-paced and fascinating overview of Eros in Greek society at large.

The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece

Self-Help

Princeton University Press

Surely the ancient Greeks would have been baffled to see what we consider their "mythology." Here, Claude Calame mounts a powerful critique of modern-day misconceptions on this front and the lax methodology that has allowed them to prevail. He argues that the Greeks viewed their abundance of narratives not as a single mythology but as an "archaeology." They speculated symbolically on key historical events so that a community of believing citizens could access them efficiently, through ritual means. Central to the book is Calame's rigorous and fruitful analysis of various accounts of the foundation of that most "mythical" of the Greek colonies--Cyrene, in eastern Libya.
Calame opens with a magisterial historical survey demonstrating today's misapplication of the terms "myth" and "mythology." Next, he examines the Greeks' symbolic discourse to show that these modern concepts arose much later than commonly believed. Having established this interpretive framework, Calame undertakes a comparative analysis of six accounts of Cyrene's foundation: three by Pindar and one each by Herodotus (in two different versions), Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes. We see how the underlying narrative was shaped in each into a poetically sophisticated, distinctive form by the respective medium, a particular poetical genre, and the specific socio-historical circumstances. Calame concludes by arguing in favor of the Greeks' symbolic approach to the past and by examining the relation of mythos to poetry and music.

Myth and History in Ancient Greece: The Symbolic Creation of a Colony

Daniel W. Berman

United States

The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece offers the first comprehensive inquiry into the deity of sexual love, a power that permeated daily Greek life. Avoiding Foucault's philosophical paradigm of dominance/submission, Claude Calame uses an anthropological and linguistic approach to re-create indigenous categories of erotic love. He maintains that Eros, the joyful companion of Aphrodite, was a divine figure around which poets constructed a physiology of desire that functioned in specific ways within a network of social relations. Calame begins by showing how poetry and iconography gave a rich variety of expression to the concept of Eros, then delivers a history of the deity's roles within social and political institutions, and concludes with a discussion of an Eros-centered metaphysics. Calame's treatment of archaic and classical Greek institutions reveals Eros at work in initiation rites and celebrations, educational practices, the Dionysiac theater of tragedy and comedy, and in real and imagined spatial settings. For men, Eros functioned particularly in the symposium and the gymnasium, places where men and boys interacted and where future citizens were educated. The household was the setting where girls, brides, and adult wives learned their erotic roles--as such it provides the context for understanding female rites of passage and the problematics of sexuality in conjugal relations. Through analyses of both Greek language and practices, Calame offers a fresh, subtle reading of relations between individuals as well as a quick-paced and fascinating overview of Eros in Greek society at large.

Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religous Role, and Social Functions (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)

In this groundbreaking work, Claude Calame argues that the songs sung by choruses of young girls in ancient Greek poetry are more than literary texts; rather, they functioned as initiatory rituals in Greek cult practices. Using semiotic and anthropologic theory, Calame reconstructs the religious and social institutions surrounding the songs, demonstrating their function in an aesthetic education that permitted the young girls to achieve the stature of womanhood and to be integrated into the adult civic community. This first English edition includes an updated bibliography.

Dramas & Plays

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

The Craft of Poetic Speech in Ancient Greece (Myth and Poetics)

In this subtle, learned, and daring book, Claude Calame challenges his readers to rethink the very principles of mythmaking in the poetry and art of the ancient Greeks. The Craft of Poetic Speech in Ancient Greece subverts common assumptions about the relationships between poet and audience and challenges readers to rethink the very principles of mythmaking in the poetry and art of the ancient Greeks.

Cornell Univ Pr

In this subtle, learned, and daring book, Claude Calame subverts common assumptions about the relationships between poet and audience, challenging his readers to rethink the very principles of mythmaking in the poetry and art of the ancient Greeks.

Cornell University Press

Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religious Role and Social Functions (Greek Studies) (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)

In this groundbreaking work, Claude Calame argues that the songs sung by choruses of young girls in ancient Greek poetry are more than literary texts; rather, they functioned as initiatory rituals in Greek cult practices.  Using semiotic and anthropologic theory, Calame reconstructs the religious and social institutions surrounding the songs, demonstrating their function in an aesthetic education that permitted the young girls to achieve the stature of womanhood and to be integrated into the adult civic community. This first English edition includes an updated bibliography.

Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religious Role and Social Functions (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)

Collins, Derek

Orion, Janice

Religion & Spirituality

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Calame, Claude. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Calame, Claude

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Calame, Claude. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Greek Mythology: Poetics, Pragmatics and Fiction

The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece

Myth and History in Ancient Greece: The Symbolic Creation of a Colony

The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece

Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religous Role, and Social Functions (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)

Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religous Role, and Social Functions (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)

The Craft of Poetic Speech in Ancient Greece (Myth and Poetics)

The Craft of Poetic Speech in Ancient Greece (Myth and Poetics)

Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religious Role and Social Functions (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)

Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religious Role and Social Functions (Greek Studies) (Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches)