1 option
Aesop's human zoo : Roman stories about our bodies / Phaedrus.; John Henderson; Thomas Bewick.
De Gruyter University of Chicago Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013 Available online
De Gruyter University of Chicago Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Phaedrus, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Phaedrus--Translations into English.
- Human body--Poetry.
- Fables, Latin--Translations into English.
- Rome--Poetry.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (148 pages) : illustrations
- Place of Publication:
- Chicago, Illinois : University of Chicago Press, [2004]
- Summary:
- Most of us grew up with Aesop's Fables—tales of talking animals, with morals attached. In fact, the familiar versions of the stories attributed to this enigmatic and astute storyteller are based on adaptations of Aesop by the liberated Roman slave Phaedrus. In turn, Phaedrus's renderings have been rewritten so extensively over the centuries that they do not do justice to the originals. In Aesop's Human Zoo, legendary Cambridge classicist John Henderson puts together a surprising set of up-front translations—fifty sharp, raw, and sometimes bawdy, fables by Phaedrus into the tersest colloquial English verse. Providing unusual insights into the heart of Roman culture, these clever poems open up odd avenues of ancient lore and life as they explore social types and physical aspects of the body, regularly mocking the limitations of human nature and offering vulgar or promiscuous interpretations of the stuff of social life. Featuring folksy proverbs and satirical anecdotes, filled with saucy naughtiness and awful puns, Aesop's Human Zoo will amuse you with its eccentricities and hit home with its shrewdly candid and red raw messages. The entertainment offered in this volume of impeccably accurate translations is truly a novelty—a good-hearted and knowing laugh courtesy of classical poetry. Beginning to advanced classicists and Latin scholars will appreciate the original Latin text provided in this bilingual edition. The splash of classic Thomas Bewick wood engravings to accompany the fables renders the collection complete.
- Contents:
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Phaedrus’s Fables
- Aesop’s Fables, and Every Body’s
- A Human Zoo
- Aesop’s human zoo The Stories
- Creation and Birth
- Sex and Gender
- Size and Shape
- Sight and Sound
- Hair and Head
- Genitals and Behinds
- Part and Whole
- Old Age and Death
- Further reading
- Indexes
- Tables for the Fables
- The Cast of Characters
- Tempting Topics
- Notes:
- Includes index.
- Description based on print version record.
- ISBN:
- 9780226806129
- 022680612X
- OCLC:
- 1243311961
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.