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DWARFS IN ATHENS
Author(s) -
DASEN VERONIQUE
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
oxford journal of archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1468-0092
pISSN - 0262-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0092.1990.tb00222.x
Subject(s) - painting , human sexuality , dwarfism , history , everyday life , psychology , literature , sociology , art , gender studies , art history , philosophy , epistemology , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
Summary.This paper examines the status of short people in everyday Athenian life. It reviews written and iconographic sources which provide complementary information. In literature, especially in the works of Aristotle, dwarfism appears as a physical handicap which involves various disorders, such as sleepiness, erratic reasoning and abnormal sexuality. Vase‐paintings moderate this negative view. Short people are shown as full humans, though close to childhood, who have a specific place in the community; they are associated with satyrs and the world of Dionysos.