Uncovering Anna Perenna - (Criminal Practice) by Gwynaeth McIntyre & Sarah McCallum (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The figure of Anna Perenna embodies the complexity and richness of the Roman mythological tradition. In exploring Anna Perenna, the contributors apply different perspectives and critical methods to an array of compelling evidence drawn from central texts, monuments, coins, and inscriptions that encapsulate Rome's shifting artistic and political landscape. As a collection, Uncovering Anna Perenna provides a unique examination that represents the interdisciplinary intersection between Roman literature, history, and culture.

The assembled chapters offer thought-provoking and insightful discussions written by specialists in Roman myth and religion, literary studies, and ancient history. A convergence of different perspectives within the collection, including comparative literature, gender and sexuality, literary criticism, and reception, results in a rich and varied investigation. Organized into four parts, the volume explores Anna along four conceptual lines: her liminal nature as a Carthaginian figure coopted into Rome's literary, mythological, and artistic heritage; her capacity as a Roman goddess and nymph; her political and cultural associations with plebeian and populist ideology; and her intriguing influence on James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

Review Quotes

This is the first volume-length, comprehensive study of Anna Perenna, a Roman divinity with a complex identity and firm yet insufficiently defined impact on the Roman civic and cultural experience. The individual studies comprising the book offer expert interpretations of the various manifestations in literature, archaeology and material culture in general, of a Roman goddess whose fluid identity parallels Rome's ever evolving cultural and political experience.

About the Author

Gwynaeth McIntyre is Lecturer at University of Otago, New Zealand. Her research focuses on political, social, and religious history of Rome and the ways in which mythology and religion define particular communities.

Sarah McCallum is an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Arizona, USA. Her research focuses on Greek and Roman language and literature, particularly epic, elegiac, and pastoral poetry.