When Men Were Men

by Lin Foxhall (Editor), John Salmon (Editor)

This text employs a variety of critical approaches and methodologies and focuses on a broad range of source materials, periods and places to offer a challenging study of male dominance in the classical world.

Genres: Greece, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 1999

About the author

Lin Foxhall is a Professor in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester. She was Head of the School at the time of the discovery and has been directly involved in much of the subsequent research, analysis and publication.

Reviews

[marina]

I usually don't rate the nonfiction that I read but I thought this essay collection deserved a review.

I read this for my master's thesis and out of the different books and articles that I've read about gender constructivism and classical Antiquity (essentialy about the ancient greek reality), this was probably the most accessible one.

This book centers on ancient greek and roman societies as study subjects and the authors featured present different methodologies and resources for the study of masculinity and identity for the classical world. Iconographic and documental analysis show us the configuration of masculinity and its manifestation in primary sources whether these are literary and mythical pieces, court speeches, artistic representations or else.

Being greek society my main interest, the most interesting chapters were these of Nick Fisher, about the representation of masculine violence in legal sources, and Paul Cartledge, on the "maschismo" of athenian imperialism. But Lin Foxhall's introduction to the volum and Hans Van Wees's chapter, were probably my favorites since they give you a brierf introduction to the concept of gender constructivism, the place of Gender Studies inside academic research on Antiquity (as for 1999, when it was written) and different authors and works that have studied masculinity in the ancient world. Is for these introductory chapters why I personally consider this book to be one of the most accessible works on gender in Antiquity; more often than not, the academic world forgets about the need of writing approachable content that can reach a wider audience.

The main complaint I have is its limitation to the greek and roman world. I think it would've beneffited from also tackling other social realities form the classical period to give a more extensive perspective on the topic, especially since in some chapters the authors mention similar patterns in other mediterranean cultures.

Overall, I think that whether if you're interested on the topic, but don't have an extensive knowledge on gender theory and Antiquity, or have already read other works regarding these same themes, it is a very informational and fascinating read nonetheless.