Julia Kindt | The University of Sydney

The Trojan Boar: Meat Eating and Masculinity – Ancient and Modern

Classics and Ancient History/CCANESA Online Seminar

This paper invites its audience to attend a (fictional) Roman dinner party somewhere in the bay of Naples sometime during the reign of the emperor Nero. It starts from the wild boar served as the main course to discuss the link between the consumption of meat and the forming of human identities, both ancient and modern. I show that the link between meat-eating, physical vitality, and social standing points to some of the arguments made in the ancient philosophical debate about the nature of human exceptionalism. The paper illustrates the centrality of meat-eating to notions of masculinity and discusses differences between the ancient and modern consumption of red meats. Finally, we turn to the fact that not everybody participated in the feast. Already in classical antiquity there were people who forged their identities along different lines by consciously opting out of this defining association. Intriguingly, perhaps, some of the arguments made two millennia ago promoting vegetarianism resonate with modern advocacy of a meat-free diet.

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Where
On Zoom

When
14 March, 4:00pm

The Zoom link
If you are registered for the seminar series you will receive the Zoom link prior to the event.

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For further contact: ccanesa.general@sydney.edu.au or benjamin.brown@sydney.edu.au

The Department of Classics and Ancient History is part of the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI).

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