The Pregnant Male as Myth and Metaphor in Classical Greek Literature by David Leitao

162 PHOENIX Eleven), for the posture of “knowingness”—the claim to being “in the know”—by which it established cognitive solidarity with its audience. This is most apparent in the use of Aesopic material, a basic source of knowledge possessed even by the lower class, by Aristophanic characters looking to manipulate others and suggest analogies between the interpretation of such fables and allegories in the comedy. Jeffrey Rusten (Chapter Twelve) identifies hybrid poetic-geographic parody in four strophes of Aristophanes’ Birds (1470–81, 1482–93, 1553–64, 1694–1705), which he persuasively describes as a logical result of the dramatic reorganization of the cosmos. As the key means of transport to fantastic destinations in early ethnographic accounts, the wings of the bird chorus facilitate their own Per’odow g÷w from the new Nephelokokkygian center to four regions loosely based on geographies attested in the ethnographic tradition. The regions’ strange inhabitants, however, are none other than the Athenians themselves, whose komodoumenoi, landmarks, and institutions are reduced to a tourist destination in the new cosmos. The final two chapters deal with comedy’s reception. Lucia Prauscello (Chapter Thirteen ) finds Old Comedy’s strategies of self-definition “absorbed, metabolized, and redefined within the communicational utopia” (320) of Plato’s Laws. Magnesia’s permitted comic performances, undertaken exclusively by slaves and foreigners to educate citizens about improper speech and conduct, borrow Aristophanic tropes: their concern with paign’a, prevention of sympathy between non-citizen performers and citizen spectators (perhaps the “cognitive solidarity” discussed by Hall?), and privileging of kain—n (“novelty ”), evoke Aristophanic claims to both humor and seriousness, poet/audience community , and overall originality. Nick Lowe’s chapter (Chapter Fourteen) considers the understudied role of the Pleiad in elevating the works of Old Comedy and forging a philologically oriented brand of criticism that ushered in the pivotal era of Alexandrian scholarship. Much of this centers on the elusive tragedian Lycophron of Chalcis, author of a large study whose few extant fragments are only found in an (admittedly flawed) 1884 edition by Karl Strecker which does little justice to this poet’s critical acumen. This meticulously researched chapter offers a picture of the substantial role of Pleiad writers in creating our corpus of comic texts and a linguistically and historically focused exegesis to make them understandable. It seems trivial to note that satyr play receives very little attention (aside from Silk) in a volume with so many engaging and provocative discussions of comedy’s various interests. Nonetheless, this volume accomplishes its aims and offers an important step forward in the study of comedy’s omnivorous tendencies. University of Michigan Donald Sells The Pregnant Male as Myth and Metaphor in Classical Greek Literature. Par David Leitao. Cambridge et New York: Cambridge University Press. 2012. Pp. xii, 307. THE PREGNANT MALE explore l'image du pÁ ere enfantant dans la littérature grecque de la période classique, une image qui s’exprime d’abord par le biais du mythe, puis par celui de la métaphore. Le livre ne tombe jamais dans la facilité, notamment en refusant de réduire le déploiement de cette image à un effet de reflet : cette idée ne sera en effet récupérée que tardivement dans le travail de négociation qui s’opère au ive BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 163 siècle entre les deux sexes sur les plans politique et social. Elle ne vise pas non plus à légitimer l’hégémonie masculine et n’est pas réductible au travail de façonnement des identités. Comme souvent, parce que Platon s’est fait l’écho de presque toutes les idées centrales de la période classique, l’auteur se proposait au départ de faire la préhistoire de ce motif qui aboutit chez le philosophe à un usage métaphorique remarquable, celui qui décrit la pensée comme une naissance. Contre l’idée répandue que Platon serait, dans ce cas spécifique, un pionnier, Leitao propose de mettre cette métaphore en contexte en considérant la culture grecque comme une grande « conversation » à laquelle Platon aurait, comme d’autres, pris part...

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