Overview

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.

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9780822630623

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Imaginative, groundbreaking and scrupulously documented, Claude Calame's masterful treatment of female choruses in Greek society is widely recognized as one of the most fundamental books ever written on archaic lyric poetry and musical culture. In its revised form it will reach an even wider audience and continue to be an indispensable research tool for students of Greek poetics, myth, and religion. -- Albert Henrichs, Harvard University This book is an absolute must for anyone working in women's history, Greek literature, or Greek religion ... One of the masterpieces of late-twentieth century classical scholarship. Bryn Mawr Classical Review There can be few classicists who are unaware of the impact that Calame's work has had on the study of archaic lyric poetry, and on our understanding of the central importance of choral performance in the cultural life of Greece. But this clear and elegant translation will now enable anglophone readers to appreciate Calame's contribution in all its detail and comlexity...Calame's book has profoundly affected the way we think about the nature and function of archaic lyric poetry and will continue to do so for many years to come. -- Penelope Murray Classical Review Claude Calame's wide-ranging and brilliant study of the educative and initiatory function of the Greek choral poetry has long been indispensible for understanding the performative and ritual contexts that give early Greek poetry its distinctive character. The English edition, with its updated bibliography, is a most welcome addition to this series. -- Charles Segal, Harvard University A brilliant application of anthropological method to archaic choral performance, with implications that go far beyond the particular choruses names in the title. -- Lowell Edmunds, Rutgers University

Author Information

Claude Calame is professor of Greek language and literature at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

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