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Eating to Excess: The Meaning of Gluttony and the Fat Body in the Ancient World
This provocative book explores how ancient notions about the fat body and the glutton in western culture both challenge and confirm ideas about what it means to be overweight and gluttonous today.
People in the ancient western world made a distinction between being fat and being a glutton, even when they valued self-control and criticized excessive behavior. Examining many works of early western cultures, this book shows how ancient views both confirm and challenge our contemporary assumptions about fat bodies and gluttons.
Eating to The Meaning of Gluttony and the Fat Body in the Ancient World explores the historical roots of the symbolic relationship between fatness, gluttony, and immorality in western culture. It includes chapters on Greek philosophy, medicine, and physiognomy; Greek and Roman popular culture; early Christianity; and the development of gluttony as one of the seven deadly sins. By examining ancient ideas about gluttony and fat bodies, the author offers new insight into what it means to be human in the western world.
People in the ancient western world made a distinction between being fat and being a glutton, even when they valued self-control and criticized excessive behavior. Examining many works of early western cultures, this book shows how ancient views both confirm and challenge our contemporary assumptions about fat bodies and gluttons.
Eating to The Meaning of Gluttony and the Fat Body in the Ancient World explores the historical roots of the symbolic relationship between fatness, gluttony, and immorality in western culture. It includes chapters on Greek philosophy, medicine, and physiognomy; Greek and Roman popular culture; early Christianity; and the development of gluttony as one of the seven deadly sins. By examining ancient ideas about gluttony and fat bodies, the author offers new insight into what it means to be human in the western world.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
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August 29, 2016
"People in the ancient western world made a distinction between being fat and being a glutton, even when they valued self-control and criticized excessive behavior. Examining many works of early western cultures, this book shows how ancient views both confirm and challenge our contemporary assumptions about fat bodies and gluttons."
An interesting and thought-provoking book on the topic of what being fat meant in the world of ancient Greece and Rome. Although based mainly in the ancient world, Hill discusses what classical authors and scholars thought about the fat body and about gluttony and how this is relevant today. Does one always equal the other? Does a fat body show who you are on the inside? Is it a sin to be fat? As the modern world reviles more and more those who carry excess weight, why does society feel revolted and entitled to comment? Rating: 4 stars.
An interesting and thought-provoking book on the topic of what being fat meant in the world of ancient Greece and Rome. Although based mainly in the ancient world, Hill discusses what classical authors and scholars thought about the fat body and about gluttony and how this is relevant today. Does one always equal the other? Does a fat body show who you are on the inside? Is it a sin to be fat? As the modern world reviles more and more those who carry excess weight, why does society feel revolted and entitled to comment? Rating: 4 stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review