Jouer dans l’Antiquité classique/Play and Games in Classical Antiquity

The European Research Council project (Locus Ludi. The Cultural Fabric of Play
and Games in Classical Antiquity [ERC AdG # 741520]) investigates how play and
games provide a privileged access to past societal norms, values, identities,
and collective imaginary. People play all over the world and throughout
history, but they do not play the same games, nor do they attribute the same
meaning and function to play. This pluridisciplinary volume investigates how
such an important part of ancient cultures can be methodologically
reconstructed. A first series of chapters based on Greek and Roman texts and
vocabulary propose an emic definition of play and games. Beyond the common
association of child and play (in Greek, paidia, ‘play’, pais, ‘child’, and
paideia, ‘education’, share the same root, in Latin ludus means ‘play’,
‘school’, and ‘rethorical games’), ancient views are more complex and nuanced.
The boundaries between sport, dance, rites and play are fluid and differ from
our modern view. Case studies show how playful practices can be defined in
material culture and iconographic representations. The second part of the
volume focuses on Greek and Roman ludic heritage in ancient literature with
particular attention to the cultural and discursive codes according to
literary genre (oniromancy, proverbs, children’s rhymes, lexicography...).
Close studies assess the transmission of a predominantly oral heritage in
collections, lexicons and commentaries ranging from the Roman imperial period
to Byzantine times (proverbs, riddles, and children’s lore). New insights are
provided on crucial issues about cultural continuities and discontinuities, as
well as the definition of so-called “traditional” games.