Scylla

by Hopman, Marianne Govers

• ISBN13: 9781107026766
• ISBN10: 1107026768
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-02-25
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

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 define 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 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.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Scylla in the Odyssey

The impregnable monster

A poetic hazard

The gullet of the sea

Puzzles and riddles

Scylla in Classical Greece

A feminine composite

Scylla as Femme Fatale

The untamed maiden

Scylla in Hellenistic Greece and Rome

Rationalizing the monster

Organizing the tradition

Roman versions of a Greek name

Psychology and re-semanticization in Ovid's Metamorphoses

Epilogue

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