J. C. McKeown

Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the Healing Arts of Greece and Rome

Cabinet of Ancient Medical Curiosities

strange tales and surprising facts from the world's greatest empire

A cabinet of Roman curiosities

The ancient Greeks were a wonderful people. They gave us democracy, drama, and philosophy, and many forms of art and branches of science would be inconceivable without their influence. And yet, they were capable of the most outlandish behavior, preposterous beliefs, and ludicrous opinions. Like its companion volume, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities, this is an uproarious miscellany of odd stories and facts, culled from a lifetime of teaching ancient Greek civilization. In some ways, the book demonstrates how much the Greeks were like us. Politicians were regarded as shallow and self-serving; overweight people resorted to implausible diets; Socrates and the king of Sparta used to entertain their children by riding around on a stick pretending it was a horse. Of course, their differences from us are abundantly documented too and the book may leave readers with a few incredulous questions. To ward off evil, were scapegoats thrown down from cliffs, though fitted out with feathers and live birds to give them a sporting chance of survival? Did a werewolf really win the boxing event at the Olympic Games? Were prisoners released on bail so that they could enjoy dramatic festivals? Did anyone really believe that Pythagoras flew about on a magic arrow? Other such mysteries abound in this quirky and richly illustrated journey into the "glory that was Greece." "The loveliest thing on the black earth." Sappho of Lesbos "Well worth getting a copy." Pisistratus of Athens "Meticulously written, a must for every library." Ptolemy of Alexandria "Unputdownable." Atlas the Titan "Fantastic! Incredible!" Cassandra, priestess of Apollo "The ideal gift." Laocoon of Troy "Not too long." Callimachus of Cyrene "I find something new every time I dip in." Archimedes of Syracuse

Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the Cradle of Western Civilization

A Cabinet of Greek Curiosities

Extensively field-tested and fine-tuned over many years, and designed specifically for a one-year course, JC McKeown's Classical Latin: An Introductory Course offers a thorough, fascinating, and playful grounding in Latin that combines the traditional grammatical method with the reading approach. In addition to grammar, paradigms, and readings, each chapter includes a variety of extraordinarily well-crafted exercises that reinforce the grammar and morphology while encouraging the joy of linguistic and cultural discovery.

An Introductory Course

Classical Latin

The legacy of the Greeks touches all aspects of modern life, and the world we live in would be unrecognizable without its influence. And yet, as A Cabinet of Greek Curiosities abundantly demonstrates, the Greeks were as disposed toward mysterious customs, peculiar superstitions, and uproarious opinions as any ancient or modern culture. Like its Roman predecessor, this volume is a captivating compendium of odd facts, strange beliefs, outlandish opinions, and other highly amusing trivia from the world of ancient Greece. Classicist J. C. McKeown has organized the entries in this volume around major themes - Food and Drink, Religion, Magic, Sex, Athletics, Drama, Animals, etc. - allowing for quick browsing or more deliberate consumption. For students and laypersons, this makes for a delightful and unexpected journey into the "glory that was Greece." Here's a sample: On post-Olympic careers: The least successful athletes, those who have never won any victories, suddenly call themselves trainers, and start shouting in harsh and barbarous tones, just like pigs -Galen On the value of education: Aristotle used to say that education was an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity -Diogenes Laertius On viniculture: Mendaean is the wine that the gods themselves piss on their soft couches -Hermippus On dreams: A dream involving one's stepmother is not good, whether she is alive or dead -Artemidorus On the perils of travel: In Libya there is a city calledDionysopolis that can never be located twice by the same person -Strabo On hygiene: Since the baths are of no practical value, we should avoid them. In the old days, people called them "human laundries" for they caused the body to wrinkle and grow old prematurely -St. Clement of Alexandria On the cosmos: The moon resembles the earth in that its surface is inhabited. The animals and plants, however, are bigger and more attractive than those here; the animals there are fifteen times as big,and do not void excrement -Philolaus On myth: They say that a monster used to come out of the sea to attack the Trojans. If they gave it young girls to eat, it would go away, but otherwise it would ravage their land. Who could fail to see that it is silly to suppose that people could strike a bargain with a fish? -Palaephatus

Here is a whimsical and captivating collection of odd facts, strange beliefs, outlandish opinions, and other highly amusing trivia of the ancient Romans. We tend to think of the Romans as a pragmatic people with a ruthlessly efficient army, an exemplary legal system, and a precise and elegant language. A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities shows that the Romans were equally capable of bizarre superstitions, logic-defying customs, and often hilariously derisive views of their fellow Romans and non-Romans. Classicist J. C. McKeown has organized the entries in this entertaining volume around major themes--The Army, Women, Religion and Superstition, Family Life, Medicine, Slaves, Spectacles--allowing for quick browsing or more deliberate consumption. Among the book's many gems are: ? Romans on urban living: The satirist Juvenal lists "fires, falling buildings, and poets reciting in August as hazards to life in Rome." ? On enhanced interrogation: "If we are obliged to take evidence from an arena-fighter or some other such person, his testimony is not to be believed unless given under torture." (Justinian) ? On dreams: Dreaming of eating books "foretells advantage to teachers, lecturers, and anyone who earns his livelihood from books, but for everyone else it means sudden death" ? On food: "When people unwittingly eat human flesh, served by unscrupulous restaurant owners and other such people, the similarity to pork is often noted." (Galen) ? On marriage: In ancient Rome a marriage could be arranged even when the parties were absent, so long as they knew of the arrangement, "or agreed to it subsequently." ? On health care: Pliny caustically described medical bills as a "down payment on death," and Martial quipped that "Diaulus used to be a doctor, now he's a mortician. He does as a mortician what he did as a doctor." For anyone seeking an inglorious glimpse at the underside of the greatest empire in history, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities offers endless delights.

Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire

A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities

Peter E. Knox

Though the wonders of ancient Roman culture continue to attract interest across the disciplines, it is difficult to find a lively, accessible collection of the full range of the era's literature in English. The Oxford Anthology of Roman Literature provides a general introduction to the literature of the Roman empire at its zenith, between the second century BC and the second century AD. Two features of this extraordinarily fertile period in literary achievement as evidenced by this anthology are immediately and repeatedly clear: how similar the Romans' view of the world was to our own and, perhaps even more obviously, how different it was. Most of the authors included in the anthology wrote in Latin, but as the anthology moves forward in time, relevant Greek texts that reflect the cultural diversity of Roman literary life are also included, something no other such anthology has done in the past. Roman literature was wonderfully creative and diverse, and the texts in this volume were chosen from a broad range of genres: drama, epic, philosophy, satire, lyric poetry, love poetry. By its very nature an anthology can abbreviate and thus obscure the most attractive features of even a masterpiece, so the two editors have not only selected texts that capture the essence of the respective authors, but also have included accompanying introductions and afterwords that will guide the reader in pursuing further reading. The presentations of the selections are enlivened with illustrations that locate the works within the contexts of the world in which they were written and enjoyed. The student and general reader will come away from this learned yet entertaining anthology with a fuller appreciation of the place occupied by literature in the Roman world.

The Oxford Anthology of Roman Literature

Each selection begins with a short biographical and historical essay.

J. C. McKeown

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