The Semantics of Fertility
During the last 100 years, several interpretations of the Thesmophoria have been advanced. Following the typology of H.S. Versnel, we can classify these interpretations as substantive, functionalist and cosmological. The three approaches can be seen as complementary, but in practice they are hardly...
Guardat en:
| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/kernos, |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicat: |
Kernos
2011
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| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Sumari: | During the last 100 years, several interpretations of the Thesmophoria have been advanced. Following the typology of H.S. Versnel, we can classify these interpretations as substantive, functionalist and cosmological. The three approaches can be seen as complementary, but in practice they are hardly ever pursued simultaneously. This article examines how they fit together. In particular, it re-examines the subject of fertility, asking how it fits in with the wider social and ideological issues to which Detienne and others have drawn attention and which, to our mind, have little connection with agriculture or human reproduction. As a response this paper offers a synthetic interpretation that places fertility in a wider cosmological context and shows it as interconnected with all the other levels of the festival. |
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