Scylla
Subtitle: myth, metaphor, paradox
By: Marianne Govers Hopman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 300
ISBN-13: 9781107026766
Subjects: Scylla and Charybdis (Greek mythology); HISTORY / General
Description: "What's in a name? Using the example of a famous monster from Greek myth, this book challenges the dominant view that a mythical symbol denotes a single, clear-cut 'figure' and proposes instead to conceptualize the name 'Scylla' as a combination of three concepts - sea, dog and woman - whose articulation changes over time. While archaic and classical Greek versions usually emphasize the metaphorical coherence of Scylla's various components, the name is increasingly treated as a well-defined but also paradoxical construct from the late fourth century BCE onward. Proceeding through detailed analyses of Greek and Roman texts and images, Professor Hopman shows how the same name can variously express anxieties about the sea, dogs, aggressive women and shy maidens, thus offering an empirical response to the semiotic puzzle raised by non-referential proper names"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Introduction; Part I. Scylla in the Odyssey: 1. The impregnable monster; 2. A poetic hazard; 3. The gullet of the sea; 4. Puzzles and riddles; Part II. Scylla in Classical Greece: 5. A feminine composite; 6. Scylla as Femme Fatale; 7. The untamed maiden; Part III. Scylla in Hellenistic Greece and Rome: 8. Rationalizing the monster; 9. Organizing the tradition; 10. Roman versions of a Greek name; 11. Psychology and re-semanticization in Ovid's Metamorphoses; Epilogue.