Emotion, restraint, and community in ancient Rome / Robert A. Kaster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kaster, Robert A.

Series:

Classical culture and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Latin literature--History and criticism.

Latin literature.

Emotions in literature.

Literature and society--Rome.

Ethics, Ancient, in literature.

Self-control in literature.

Upper class in literature.

Communities in literature.

Rome--In literature.

Rome (Empire).

Upper class--Rome.

Physical Description:

ix, 245 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

Summary:

Emotion, Restraint, and Community in Ancient Rome is an essay in cultural psychology. By examining the ways in which emotions, and talk about emotions, reinforce cultural norms, it aims to understand the interplay between the emotions and the ethics of the Roman upper classes in the late Republic and early Empire. How (in the Roman view) is virtuous behavior shaped by the emotions? How in particular do various Roman forms of fear, dismay, indignation, and revulsion support or constrain ethically significant behavior? How do the domains of these emotions-what they are "about"-intersect, overlap, or complement each other? How does their interaction create an economy of displeasure that aims to shape society in constructive ways? And-since the Romans' language of emotions is not our own-how can we answer any of these questions without imposing upon the Romans our own notions of what a given emotion is? In offering answers to all these questions the book casts new light both on the Romans and on cross-cultural understanding of emotions.

Contents:

1 Between Respect and Shame: Verecundia and the Art of Social Worry 13

2 Fifty Ways to Feel Your Pudor 28

3 The Structure of Paenitentia and the Egoism of Regret 66

4 Invidia Is One Thing, Invidia Quite Another 84

5 The Dynamics of Fastidium and the Ideology of Disgust 104

6 Epilogue-Being "Wholly" Roman 134.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-216) and indexes.

ISBN:

0195140788

OCLC:

55738024