1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910960555303321

Autore

Ludwig Paul W (Paul Walter), <1963->

Titolo

Eros and polis : desire and community in Greek political theory / / Paul W. Ludwig

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2002

ISBN

1-107-13241-X

1-280-41845-1

0-511-33032-4

1-139-14772-2

0-511-17790-9

0-511-06428-4

0-511-05795-4

0-511-49777-6

0-511-07274-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiii, 398 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

320/.01

Soggetti

Political science - Greece - History

Homosexuality - Political aspects - Greece - History

Sex - Political aspects - Greece - History

Eros (Greek deity)

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 381-392) and index.

Nota di contenuto

; Part I. Political eros: an account from the Symposium -- Statesmanship and sexuality in Aristophanes' speech -- Law and nature in Aristophanes' speech -- ; Part II. The discourse of political eros -- Scientific and poetic traditions of eros in Thucydides -- Problem of aggression -- Problem of sublimation -- ; Part III. The Polis as a school for eros -- Civic nudity -- Patriotism and imperialism as eros.

Sommario/riassunto

Eros and Polis examines how and why Greek theorists treated political passions as erotic. Because of the tiny size of ancient Greek cities, contemporary theory and ideology could conceive of entire communities based on desire. A recurrent aspiration was to transform the polity into one great household that would bind the citizens



together through ties of mutual affection. In this study, Paul Ludwig evaluates sexuality, love and civic friendship as sources of political attachment and as bonds of political association. Studying the ancient view of eros recovers a way of looking at political phenomena that provides a bridge, missing in modern thought, between the private and public spheres, between erotic love and civic commitment. Ludwig's study thus has important implications for the theoretical foundations of community.