The Invention and Gendering of Epicurus by Pamela Gordon

BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 405 is his study of the relationship of the troops with the royal family. The most obvious illustration is the infantry’s backing of Arrhidaeus at Babylon, but Roisman follows this thread throughout the history of the next several years, pointing for example to the royal army’s support of Adea-Eurydice in her struggle to assert her position and that of her husband Philip iii (Arrhidaeus). Roisman argues also that the veterans were sensitive to injustice (particularly if it was directed against them); thus, the murder of Cynane, Eurydice’s mother and daughter of Philip ii, perhaps at the behest of Perdiccas, was instrumental in the troops’ insistence that her daughter be allowed to marry the king (90-92). The traditional view of Macedonian monarchy has been that the king had to be acclaimed by the Macedonian assembly, whether the latter is interpreted as civil or military. Roisman does not attempt to determine fine points of constitutionality, chiefly because he believes it to be largely beside the point. He concludes that the effectiveness of the veterans in having their wishes heard and met lay not in the putative legality of their demands and their constitutional rights, but rather in the fluid relationship between the army (or armies) and their leaders, and in the dynamics within the leading elite itself. When the commanders were weak or disunited, as at Babylon, the troops were more able to make their presence felt in political decision-making. But a fragile and divided leadership was a threatening situation for the army, and even if such weakness allowed them the opportunity to be heard, the troops clearly preferred a strong command that would bring them victory. Their reliance on, and loyalty to, an effective general who fought successful battles and paid them promptly and fairly would have trumped most other considerations and gone a long way towards assuaging concerns they might have had about fighting fellow Macedonians. Roisman’s monograph on the afterlife of Alexander’s army represents a solid contribution to the history of this crucial period. It is original in its focus and provides an excellent counter-weight to the more common approaches to the era of the Successors. University of Waterloo Sheila L. Ager The Invention and Gendering of Epicurus. By Pamela Gordon. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. 2012. Pp. viii, 222. Gordon's successfuland often entertaining study focuses on the cultural reception of Epicureanism, especially as shown in hostile sources. It does not consider Epicureanism as a philosophical system, but instead looks at the literary construction of the figures of Epicurus and the prototypical Epicurean, usually as objects of scorn and revulsion. As Gordon notes (5–6), hostile misrepresentations of Epicureanism based on its hedonism appeared from the start, as shown by Epicurus’ Letter to Meneoceus 131–132. For Epicurus, tranquility makes a life pleasant, and you achieve tranquility by living prudently , honorably, and justly. But ignorant or malicious critics said Epicurus advocates the dissipated pleasures of drinking bouts and enjoying boys and women. Epicureanism was reviled not merely because of its hedonism, however. Epicureanism “often met with a particularly Roman abhorrence that was frequently expressed in gendered terms” (13), because it challenged Roman ideals of manliness. One theme running throughout the study is that gender politics play a prominent role in anti-Epicurean polemics, and Gordon deftly details how this occurs. 406 PHOENIX Gordon ranges broadly, from philosophical critiques, to parodic Epicureans in comedies , to representations of the bodies of Epicureans in prose and in statuary. The Introduction gives a thumbnail sketch of Epicureanism for novices. Chapter One, “The First Lampoons of Epicurus,” considers reactions to Epicureanism during or shortly after Epicurus ’ life. It opens with Arcesilaus’ jibe: when asked why followers of other philosophers become Epicureans but Epicureans do not defect to other philosophical schools, he responds sarcastically, “Because men can become eunuchs, but eunuchs never become men” (Diog. Laert. 4.43). Gordon follows this with other contemporary or near-contemporary depictions of Epicureans, considering at length the buffoonish chef, a stock character in the New Comedy often depicted as an Epicurean to lambaste sensual pleasure and lack of self-control. Some interesting

Ancient history · Constitution · Constitutionality · Daughter · Elite · Infantry · Macedonian · Political science · Politics · Royal family · Sociology · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Law