Abusive Mouths in Classical Athens
“Abusive Mouths in Classical Athens” by Nancy Worman, published by Cambridge University Press on February 17, 2011, is a comprehensive study that examines the language of insult in classical Athenian literature. This 398-page work delves into the themes of talking, eating, drinking, and sexual activities as they relate to the mouth, highlighting how these elements are used to critique professional speakers, including sophists and demagogues, within the context of Attic comedy, Platonic dialogue, and fourth-century oratory.
Readers will find an exploration of how abusive speech genres and bodily representations are intertwined in ancient texts, particularly focusing on the mouth as a symbol of excess and ridicule in democratic Athens. Worman’s analysis sheds light on the prominent patterns of imagery associated with invective in classical literature, marking a significant contribution to the understanding of both language and social dynamics in ancient societies. This edition is presented in English and offers insights into the cultural and historical significance of insults and their implications in the literary landscape of the time.
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This study of the language of insult charts abuse in classical Athenian literature that centres on the mouth and its appetites, especially talking, eating, drinking, and sexual activities. Attic comedy, Platonic dialogue, and fourth-century oratory often deploy insulting depictions of the mouth and its excesses in order to deride professional speakers as sophists, demagogues, and women. Although the patterns of imagery explored are very prominent in ancient invective and later western literary traditions, this is the first book to discuss this phenomenon in classical literature. It responds to a growing interest in both abusive speech genres and the representation of the body, illuminating an iambic discourse that isolates the intemperate mouth as a visible emblem of behaviours ridiculed in the democratic arenas of classical Athens.
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