The Staff of Oedipus (Corporealities) (Corporealities: Discourses of Disability)

by Martha L Rose

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Ancient Greek images of disability permeate the Western consciousness: Homer, Teiresias, and Oedipus immediately come to mind. But The Staff of Oedipus looks at disability in the ancient world through the lens of disability studies, and reveals that our interpretations of disability in the ancient world are often skewed. These false assumptions in turn lend weight to modern-day discriminatory attitudes toward disability.

Martha L. Rose considers a range of disabilities and the narratives surrounding them. She examines not only ancient literature, but also papyrus, skeletal material, inscriptions, sculpture, and painting, and draws upon modern work, including autobiographies of people with disabilities, medical research, and theoretical work in disability studies. Her study uncovers the realities of daily life for people with disabilities in ancient Greece and challenges the translation of the term adunatos (unable) as "disabled," with all its modern associations.

  • ISBN10 6612991364
  • ISBN13 9786612991363
  • Publish Date 11 February 2010 (first published 10 September 2003)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Out of Print 28 September 2011
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint University of Michigan Press
  • Format eBook
  • Pages 168
  • Language English