
Exposed
The Greek and Roman Body - Shortlisted for the Anglo-Hellenic Runciman Award
Caroline Vout(Author)
Wellcome Collection (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 3. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
432 pages
978-1-80649-215-2 (ISBN)
Description
WINNER OF THE LONDON HELLENIC PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC RUNICMAN AWARD
A SUNDAY TIMES AND SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Essential and hugely enjoyable' Katy Hessel
'A triumph ... an extraordinary book that stopped me in my tracks' Peter Frankopan
Cast in buff bronze and carved in white marble, it's easy to see the Greek and Roman body as flawless. But this is a lie.
Reaching beyond the galleries and behind the myths, classicist Caroline Vout exposes Greek and Roman bodies for what they truly were: anxious, ailing, imperfect and diverse - and responsible for a legacy as lasting as their statutes. Beautifully illustrated, and delving into questions of life, death, morality and personhood, Exposed reveals the classical body in all its flesh-and-blood glory.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANGLO-HELLENIC RUNICMAN AWARD
A SUNDAY TIMES AND SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Essential and hugely enjoyable' Katy Hessel
'A triumph ... an extraordinary book that stopped me in my tracks' Peter Frankopan
Cast in buff bronze and carved in white marble, it's easy to see the Greek and Roman body as flawless. But this is a lie.
Reaching beyond the galleries and behind the myths, classicist Caroline Vout exposes Greek and Roman bodies for what they truly were: anxious, ailing, imperfect and diverse - and responsible for a legacy as lasting as their statutes. Beautifully illustrated, and delving into questions of life, death, morality and personhood, Exposed reveals the classical body in all its flesh-and-blood glory.
Reviews / Votes
Full of arresting, sometimes startling ideas and facts that topple the Greeks and Romans from their lofty, pristine, snow-white pedestals * Guardian * The illustrations are superb throughout ... packed with fascinating facts and original insights * The Sunday Times * Caroline Vout, in this fascinating book, takes us far beyond the white marble 'perfection' of the sculptures that line modern museum walls ... It's an eye-opener -- Mary Beard * i Paper * Spectacular ... highly stimulating ... it takes a book of ambitious scope like this to challenge preconceptions of what art actually is * Literary Review * Written with such depth and enthusiasm, Exposed has expanded my mind on the body in the Ancient World -- Katy Hessel A triumph ... an extraordinary book that stopped me in my tracks again and again -- Peter Frankopan, author * The Earth Transformed * From Ovid to the Olympics, Sophocles to spiritual Viagra, Caroline Vout is a wonderful guide, wearing her erudition lightly and with a great sense of fun. -- Gavin Francis, bestselling author of Recovery and Adventures in Human Being Fascinating and compelling ... Brilliantly written and lavishly illustrated, Exposed is also the nearest thing to a classical page-turner you will read this year ... a pleasure to read * Journal of Classics Teaching * Vout sustains a fast-moving conversation with her readers. She uses an admirably wide range of texts, art and objects and shows that bodies came in many shapes, sizes and roles in antiquity too. Exposed helps us widen our minds when we turn to envisaging the ancient world -- Robin Lane Fox Caroline Vout takes the Greek and Roman body apart with impressive scholarship and a sublime sense of humour. In Exposed she goes well beyond our cliche view of the classical human form and reveals in unflinching detail what it was really like for the Greeks and Romans to inhabit their mortal coils and by extension the world about them. Of course in doing so she unavoidably directs us to contemplate the same. So if you have a body you should definitely read this. Oh and did I mention it made me laugh out loud too?" -- Jimmy MulvilleMore details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Profile Books Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80649-215-2 (9781806492152)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2022
Wellcome Collection
€18.49
Available for download
Person
Caroline (Carrie) Vout is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, and Director of Cambridge's Museum of Classical Archaeology. Carrie has appeared on Woman's Hour and In Our Time, and has written for Apollo, Minerva, the Times Literary Supplement and the Observer.