The ἂτοπα of Elagabalus.
Cassius Dio referred to the sexual excesses and behaviors of the emperor Elagabalus as ἂτοπα ("strange things"), and scholars ever since have grappled with the problem of how best to interpret Cassius Dio's account of Rome's most reviled emperor. In this article I offer a new contextualization of Ca...
| Publicado en: | Helios Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 157 - 186 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Texas Tech University Press
Fall2024
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=188640938&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 188640938 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01600923 1IFI jtl: Helios issn: 01600923 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Fall2024 vid: 51 iid: 2 pid: 4212 pub: Texas Tech University Press artinfo: ui: 188640938 10.1353/hel.2024.a984008 ppf: 157 ppct: 29 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 12.1MB tig: atl: The ἂτοπα of Elagabalus. aug: au: Merli, Olivia su: Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome, 204-222 Cassius Dio Cocceianus, d. 235 Religious identity Cults Gender identity sug: subj: Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome, 204-222 Cassius Dio Cocceianus, d. 235 Religious identity Cults Gender identity keyword: eastern cults Elagabalus Galen gender marriage Severan women sexuality ab: Cassius Dio referred to the sexual excesses and behaviors of the emperor Elagabalus as ἂτοπα ("strange things"), and scholars ever since have grappled with the problem of how best to interpret Cassius Dio's account of Rome's most reviled emperor. In this article I offer a new contextualization of Cassius Dio's and other related accounts of Elagabalus with the goal of developing a deeper appreciation of both the gender regime of the period and the emperor's place within it. To accomplish this, I draw first on contemporary or near contemporary medical texts that cast new light on Elagabalus's desire to have an αἰδῶ γυναικείαν ("female sexual organ") contrived for himself. Then, drawing on numismatic and archeological evidence, I give considerable attention to the religious innovations of the period. Crucially, in his efforts to bridge the human and the divine, to invest women with unprecedented prominence in Roman public religion, and to fashion a new religious identity which also entailed the transformation of his body, Elagabalus was bound to scandalize his more traditionally minded contemporaries. Finally, as I argue in the conclusion, transgender studies--which enable an understanding of such behaviors as part of a search for a new identity outside the traditional gender binaries--offer a powerful lens through which to develop a deeper understanding of Elagabalus in relation to the cultural dynamics of the period. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Helios is the property of Texas Tech University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Helios holder: Texas Tech University Press dt: @attributes: year: 2024 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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