Man the Tamer: case studies in masculine ideology, power and the domestication of the wild in Ancient Greek social thought

Abstract

Drawing on the strong tradition of structuralism in the Classics, this thesis argues that the binary opposition between wild and tame was fundamental to the Ancient Greek man's understanding of social power relations. It maintains that, in the ancient polis, the language of taming was closely linked to a broad range of hegemonic masculine conduct, ranging from self-control and sexual potency to political assertiveness and martial courage. The literary sources indicate that a Greek man, when exhibiting ideals of masculinity in his relations with disfranchised members of his community, was imagined as playing the role of a "tamer": the individual who possesses the ability to impose his will on the wild realm of nature.