Abstract
Posthumanist approaches to Graeco-Roman literature and culture are increasingly relevant in the field of classics. Although Posthumanism is generally taken to be future-oriented, prefigurations of the posthuman can be traced back to classical antiquity. Classical posthumanism represents a vigilant critique of anthropocentrism and speciesism. By way of illustration, the first part of this chapter discusses several essays included in the first major reference volume on classics and posthumanism: Classical Literature and Posthumanism (2020), an edited collection that opens up and maps the posthumanist discourse within the discipline of classical studies. The selected chapters explore how foundational texts of classical literature configure the (human) self as inherently becoming-other: a hybrid made of nonhuman alterities. The second part introduces the reader to classical postanthropocentrism, outlining emerging trends in posthumanist research conducted in classical studies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agamben, G. (2002). L’aperto. L’uomo e l’animale. Bollati e Boringhieri.
Althusser, L. (1964). Marxisme et Humanisme. Cahiers de l’I.S.E.A, 20, 109–133.
Badmington, N. (2000). Introduction – Approaching posthumanism. In N. Badmington (Ed.), Posthumanism (pp. 1–10). Palgrave.
Bär, S., & Domouzi, A. (forthcoming). Artificial intelligence in Greek and Roman Epic. Bloomsbury.
Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Duke University Press.
Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant matter. A political ecology of things. Duke University Press.
Bryant, L. R. (2011). The democracy of objects. Open Humanities Press.
Calame, C. (1996). Mythe et histoire dans l' Antiquité grecque. Les Belles Lettres.
Calarco, M. (2015). Thinking through animals. Identity, difference, indistinction. Stanford University Press.
Chesi, G. M., & Spiegel, F. (Eds.). (2020). Classical literature and posthumanism. Bloomsbury.
Clarke, B., & Rossini, M. (2017). Preface – Literature, posthumanism, and the posthuman. In B. Clarke & M. Rossini (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to literature and the posthuman (pp. xi–xxii). Cambridge University Press.
Cohen, J. J. (1996). Monster culture (seven theses). In J. J. Cohen (Ed.), Monster theory. Reading culture (pp. 3–25). University of Minnesota Press.
de Romilly, J. (1975). Magic and rhetoric in ancient Greece. Harvard University Press.
DeLanda, M. (2002). Intensive science and virtual philosophy. Bloomsbury.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). Mille plateaux. Capitalisme et schizophrénie. Les éditions de minuit. English edition: Deleuze, G. & Guattari, F. 1987. A Thousand Plateaus. Capitalism and Schizophrenia (trans: Massumi, B). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Detienne, M., & Vernant, J. P. (1974). Les ruses de l’intelligence: la métis des Grecs. Flammarion.
Diels, H., & Kranz, W. (1956). Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker. Weidmann.
Duchemin, J. (1955). Pindare, poète et prophète. Les Belles Lettres.
Fabian, J. (1990). Presence and representation. The other and anthropological writing. Critical Inquiry, 16, 753–772.
Farenga, V. (1977). Pindaric craft and the writing of Pythian IV. Helios, 5, 3–37.
Ferrando, F. (2016). Il Postumanesimo filosofico e le sue alterità. Introduzione di Rosi Braidotti. Edizioni ETS.
Gasser, U., & Almeida, V. A. F. (2017). A layered model for AI governance. IEEE Internet Computing, 21, 58–62.
Grusin, R. (2015). Introduction. In R. Grusin (Ed.), The nonhuman turn (pp. vii–xxx). University of Minnesota Press.
Haraway, D. J. (1997). Modest_Witness@Second_Millenium.FemaleMan@_Meets OncoMouse™: Feminism and Technoscience. Routledge.
Haraway, D. J. (2016). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century. In I. D. J. Haraway (Ed.), Manifestly Haraway (pp. 5–90). University of Minnesota Press.
Hassan, I. (1977). Prometheus as performer: Toward a posthumanist culture? The Georgia Review, 31, 830–850.
Hayles, N. K. (1999). How we became posthuman: Virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics. Chicago University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1956). Die Frage nach der Technik. In M. Heidegger (Ed.), Die Künste im technischer Zeitalter (pp. 48–72). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. English edition: Heidegger, M. The Question concerning Technology. In M. Heidegger. 1977. The Question concerning Technology & Other Essays (pp. 3–35). Trans: Lovitt, V. Garland Publishing.
Herbrechter, S. (2012). Introduction – Shakespeare even after. In S. Herbrechter & I. Callus (Eds.), Posthumanist Shakespeares (pp. 1–19). Palgrave.
Herbrechter, S. (2013). Posthumanism. A critical analysis. Bloomsbury.
Hribal, J. (2010). Fear of the animal planet: The hidden history of animal resistance. CounterPunch.
Jeanmaire, H. (1956). La naissance d’Athena et la royauté magique de Zeus. Revue Archéologique, 48, 12–39.
Latour, B. (1993). Nous n’avons jamais été modernes. Paris: Éditions La Découverte. English edition: Latour, B. 1993. We have never been modern (trans. Porter, C). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Liveley, G., & Thomas, S. (2020). Homer’s intelligent Machines. In S. Cave, K. Dihal, & S. Dillon (Eds.), AI narratives. A history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines (pp. 25–48). Oxford University Press.
Mayor, A. (2018). Gods and robots. Myths, machines and ancient dreams of technology. Princeton University Press.
McGurl, M. (2012). The Posthuman comedy. Critical Inquiry, 38, 533–553.
Miah, A. (2009). A critical history of posthumanism. In B. Gordijn & R. Chadwick (Eds.), Medical enhancement and posthumanity (pp. 71–94). Springer.
Næss, A. (1973). The shallow and the deep, long-range ecology movement. Inquiry, 16, 95–100.
Næss, A. (1988). Self-realization. An ecological approach to being in the world. In J. Seed (Ed.), Thinking like a mountain (pp. 19–31). New Society Publishers.
Nayar, P. K. (2014). Posthumanism. Polity.
Pepperell, R. (2005). The posthuman manifesto. Kritikos, 2, 1–15.
Race, W. H. 1997. Pindar. Olympian odes. Pythian odes. Edited and translated by William H. Race. Harvard University Press.
Rackham, H. (1932). Aristotle. Politics. Translated by H. Rackham. Harvard University Press.
Regan, T. (1983). The case for animal rights. University of California Press.
Roden, D. (2015). Posthuman life. Routledge.
Segal, C. (1986). Pindar’s mythmaking: The fourth Pythian ode. Princeton University Press.
Seshadri, K. R. (2012). Humanimal: Race, law, language. University of Minnesota Press.
Weizenbaum, J. (1976). Computer power and human reason. From judgment to calculation. W.H. Freeman & Co.
Wolfe, C. (2003). Animal rites. Chicago University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Chesi, G.M. (2022). Classical Posthumanism. In: Herbrechter, S., Callus, I., Rossini, M., Grech, M., de Bruin-Molé, M., John Müller, C. (eds) Palgrave Handbook of Critical Posthumanism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42681-1_30-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42681-1_30-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42681-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42681-1
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities