Body Technologies in the Greco-Roman World Technosôma, gender and sex

A collection of papers that introduces the notion of the technosoma (techno body) into discussions on the representations of the body in classical antiquity. By applying the category of the technosoma to the 'natural' body, this volume explicitly narrows down the discussion of the technical and the natural to the physiological body. In doing so, the present collection focuses on body technologies in the specific form of beautification and body enhancement techniques, as well as medical and surgical treatments. The volume elucidates two main points. Firstly, ancient techno bodies show that the categories of gender and sexuality are at the core of the intersection of the natural and the technical, and intersect with notions of race, age, speciesism, class and education, and dis/ability. Secondly, the collection argues that new body technologies have in fact a very ancient history that can help to address the challenges of contemporary technological innovation. To this end, the volume showcases the intersection of 'natural' bodies with technology, gender, sexuality and reproduction. On the one hand, techno bodies tend to align with normative ideas about gender, and sexuality. On the other hand, body modification and/or enhancement techniques work hand in hand with economic and political power and knowledge, thus they often produce techno bodies that are shaped according to individual needs, i.e. according to a certain lifestyle. Consequently, techno bodies threaten to alter traditional ideas of masculinity, femininity, male and female sexuality and beauty.

Maria Gerolemou is Lecturer in Greek Language and Culture, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Exeter. Her previous publications include (ed. with G. Kazantzidis) Body and Machine in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge University Press 2023) and (ed with T. Bur and I. Ruffell) Technological Animation in Classical Antiquity (Oxford University Press 2023).

Giulia Maria Chesi is Lecturer in Greek Literature, Department of Classics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Her previous publications include (with F. Spiegel) Classical Literature and Posthumanism (Bloomsbury 2020).

Introduction
Maria Gerolemou

TECHNOLOGIES AND BODIES

Short Introduction: In Search of a Definition: What is an (Ancient) Technosoma?
Giulia Maria Chesi

Dysfunction and Deformity in Paul of Aegina's Surgical Chapters
Alessia Guardasole

Medical Equipment to repair Broken Bodies: The Plinthion for the Reduction of Dislocations
Irene Calà

Bodies with Organs, Bodies without Organs
Chiara Thumiger

Natural born Cyborgs OR when Talos met Medea
Genevieve Liveley

The Bear Necessities: Thrasyleon, Lucius, and the Status of Skins in The Golden Ass
Martin Devecka

BODY TECHNOLOGIES AND GENDER

Short Introduction: Prosthetic Beauty
Giulia Maria Chesi

Galen's Thrasybulus: Medicine, Gymnastic Trainers, and the Technosoma
Daniel King

Body Beautification and Black Ethiopians in Herodotus' Ethiopian Logos
Giulia Maria Chesi

Want to look Younger and Stronger? Cosmetic Hot Baths in Classical Antiquity
Maria Gerolemou

Mansplaining with Ovid: Ars-cultus-munditia and the 'Natural' Body
Marguerite Johnson

O Tempora, O Morays: Eels and Luxury in Imperial Rome
Martin Devecka

The Technê that Races: Phoenician-Punic Technosomata in Homer and Plautus
Elena Giusti

BODY TECHNOLOGIES AND SEXUALITY

Short Introduction: Hybrid Pleasures
Giulia Maria Chesi

Orchids, Lizards and Lettuce: Aphrodisiacs and Technosomata
Laurence Totelin

Lucian's lunar Tree-people: Between sexual Technology and the prosthetic Imagination
Karen ní Mheallaigh

Negotiating Women's Sexual Identity with a Scalpel: Ancient and Contemporary Views on Female Genital Surgery
Elisa Groff

Epilogue: Technosomata and Moral Anxiety
Rebecca Langlands