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Bestseller
BestsellerE-book
Author Ringrose, Kathryn M.

Title The perfect servant : eunuchs and the social construction of gender in Byzantium / Kathryn M. Ringrose.

Publication Info. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2003]
©2003

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xiv, 295 pages) : illustrations
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-285) and index.
Contents List of Illustrations; Spelling Conventions for Greek Names; Acknowledgments; Introduction -- Eunuchs of Byzantium: Context and Definition; PART I GENDER AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCT; 1 The Language of Gender; 2 Byzantine Medical Lore and the Gendering of Eunuchs; 3 Gender Construction as Acculturation; 4 Making Sense of Tradition: Regendering Legendary Narratives; PART II BECOMING PROTAGONISTS; 5 Passing the Test of Sanctity: Eunuchs and the Ecclesiastical World of Byzantium; 6 Transgressing Gender Boundaries: Eunuchs in Authority; 7 Transcending the Material World: Eunuchs and Angels.
Summary The Perfect Servant reevaluates the place of eunuchs in Byzantium. Kathryn Ringrose uses the modern concept of gender as a social construct to identify eunuchs as a distinct gender and to illustrate how gender was defined in the Byzantine world. At the same time she explores the changing role of the eunuch in Byzantium from 600 to 1100. Accepted for generations as a legitimate and functional part of Byzantine civilization, eunuchs were prominent in both the imperial court and the church. They were distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and were considered uniquely suited for imp.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Eunuchs -- Byzantine Empire.
Eunuchs.
Byzantine Empire.
Sex role -- Byzantine Empire.
Sex role.
Byzantine Empire -- Civilization.
Civilization.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Subject Eunuchs.
Gender roles.
Other Form: Print version: Ringrose, Kathryn M. Perfect servant. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, ©2003 0226720152 9780226720159 (DLC) 2002014105 (OCoLC)50519314
ISBN 9780226720166 (electronic book)
0226720160 (electronic book)
9780226720159 (cloth ; alkaline paper)
0226720152 (cloth ; alkaline paper)