Trojan Horse and Other Stories : Ten Ancient Creatures That Make Us Human by Julia Kindt (2024, Hardcover)

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Publication Date: Feb 29 2024. Publisher: Cambridge University Press.

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherCambridge University Press

ISBN-101009411381

ISBN-139781009411387

eBay Product ID (ePID)7061955051

Product Key Features

Book TitleTrojan Horse and Other Stories : Ten Ancient Creatures That Make Us Human

Number of Pages380 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2024

TopicAncient / General

IllustratorYes

GenreHistory

AuthorJulia Kindt

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.8 in

Item Length9.3 in

Item Width6.4 in

Additional Product Features

TitleLeadingThe

Dewey Edition23

Reviews'Deeply insightful and erudite ... Highly recommended for both disciples and skeptics of classics.' Evan M. Anderson, Library Journal (starred review), 'A truly thought-provoking book and a delight to read. It is addressed to the intelligent and educated reader, rather than to a handful of fellow specialists. The scholarship is extensive and thoroughly but discreetly referenced, so that it is easy to follow up any leads of particular interest. Although most of Kindt's readers will no doubt have some familiarity with many or all of the subjects she deals with, she never takes this for granted. Above all, she does not approach the past, as so often today, with an agenda or a set of judgements formed in advance of studying the material - in other words prejudices - but instead adopts a truly hermeneutic method, seeking first to understand what these stories and themes meant in their own time and, on that foundation, pursuing their subsequent history and their resonance for us today.' Christopher Allen, Australian Book Review, 'Julia Kindt has found a miraculous new lens through which to scrutinise our oldest, most loved stories and find in them colours, shapes and qualities that we have never really seen before. Humankind's relationship with animals has been examined through archaeology, history and art, but never before, to my knowledge, through myth, legend and story. The insights that this absorbing and imaginative approach reveal are enthralling and profound. The stories are told with wit, imagination and sparkle; the animals who star in them brought wondrously to life.' Stephen Fry, 'Kindt writes lucidly and with a splendid verve that erupts in the occasional, lively and well-timed pun. The narrative is also richly illustrated with numerous images. I enjoyed reading and learning from this book and recommend it with enthusiasm.' James J. Clauss, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Dewey Decimal880.09374

Table Of ContentIntroduction; 1. The Sphinx (Sphinx aenigmatica); 2. Xanthus, Achilles' Speaking Horse (Equus eloquens); 3. The Lion of Androclus (Panthera leo philanthropus); 4. The Cyclops (Cyclops inhospitalis); 5. The Trojan Horse (Equus troianus); 6. The 'Trojan' Boar (Aper troianus ostentator); 7. The Political Bee (Apis politica); 8. The Socratic Gadfly (Haematopota oxyglotta socratis); 9. The Minotaur (Hybrida minotaurus); 10. The Shearwaters of Diomedea (Calonectris diomedea transformata); Conclusion.

SynopsisWhat makes us human? What, if anything, sets us apart from all other creatures? Julia Kindt unpacks ten ancient stories of marvelous mythical beings to explore bold new ways of thinking about humanity that reach from antiquity to the present and ultimately challenge our understanding of who we really are., What makes us human? What, if anything, sets us apart from all other creatures? Ever since Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the answer to these questions has pointed to our own intrinsic animal nature. Yet the idea that, in one way or another, our humanity is entangled with the non-human has a much longer and more venerable history. In the West, it goes all the way back to classical antiquity. This grippingly written and provocative book boldly reveals how the ancient world mobilised concepts of 'the animal' and 'animality' to conceive of the human in a variety of illuminating ways. Through ten stories about marvelous mythical beings - from the Trojan Horse to the Cyclops, and from Androcles' lion to the Minotaur - Julia Kindt unlocks fresh ways of thinking about humanity that extend from antiquity to the present and that ultimately challenge our understanding of who we really are.

LC Classification NumberPA3015.A59K5 2024