Exposed: The Greek and Roman Body - Longlisted for the Anglo-Hellenic Runciman Award

Description

The Greek and Roman body is often seen as flawless - cast from life in buff bronze and white marble, to sit upon a pedestal. But this, of course, is a lie. Here, classicist Caroline Vout reaches beyond texts and galleries to expose Greek and Roman bodies for what they truly were: anxious, ailing, imperfect, diverse, and responsible for a legacy as lasting as their statues. Taking us on a gruesome, thrilling journey, she taps into the questions that those in the Greek and Roman worlds asked about their bodies - where do we come from? What makes us different from gods and animals? What happens to our bodies, and the forces that govern them, when we die? Vout also reveals the surprising actions people often took to transform their bodies - from sophisticated surgery and contraception to body oils, cosmetics and early gym memberships. You've seen the paintings, read the philosophers and heard the myths - now here's the classical body in all its flesh and blood glory. 'An extraordinary book that stopped me in my tracks again and again. Filled with insights, surprises and asides that draw on a breath-taking array of sources from the distant past to the present day. A triumph from start to finish' - Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of The Silk Roads 'A gloriously intimate tour of the body in antiquity, filled with unexpected digressions and surprising new perspectives. From Ovid to the Olympics, Sophocles to spiritual Viagra, Caroline Vout is a wonderful guide, wearing her erudition lightly and with a great sense of fun.' - Gavin Francis, bestselling author of Recovery and Adventures in Human Being

Caroline (Carrie) Vout teaches and researches at the Universities of Cambridge and Leiden. She is also Director of Cambridge's Museum of Classical Archaeology and has curated exhibitions at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, and at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Carrie has appeared on Woman's Hour and In Our Time, and contributed pieces to magazines such as Apollo, Minerva, History Today, and to The Times Literary Supplement and The Observer. In 2012 and 2013, she chaired the judging panel of the John D. Criticos Prize literary prize. She has given public lectures across the world, and is regularly invited to talk to schools.

'A gloriously intimate tour of the body in antiquity, filled with unexpected digressions and surprising new perspectives. From Ovid to the Olympics, Sophocles to spiritual Viagra, Caroline Vout is a wonderful guide, wearing her erudition lightly and with a great sense of fun.' - Gavin Francis, bestselling author of Recovery and Adventures in Human Being 'An extraordinary book that stopped me in my tracks again and again. Filled with insights, surprises and asides that draw on a breath-taking array of sources from the distant past to the present day. A triumph from start to finish' - Peter Frankopan, bestselling author of The Silk Roads 'Vout sustains a fast-moving conversation with her readers. She uses an admirably wide range of texts, art and objects and shows that bodies came in many shapes, sizes and roles in antiquity too. Exposed helps us widen our minds when we turn to envisaging the ancient world' - Robin Lane Fox 'Caroline Vout takes the Greek and Roman body apart with impressive scholarship and a sublime sense of humour. In Exposed she goes well beyond our clich view of the classical human form and reveals in unflinching detail what it was really like for the Greeks and Romans to inhabit their mortal coils and by extension the world about them. Of course in doing so she unavoidably directs us to contemplate the same. So if you have a body you should definitely read this. Oh and did I mention it made me laugh out loud too?' - Jimmy Mulville