Comments on: Oedipus and Circumcision http://blogs.tamu.edu/shemote/2007/11/14/oedipus-and-circumcision/ Just another blogs @ TAMU weblog Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:57:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: shemote http://blogs.tamu.edu/shemote/2007/11/14/oedipus-and-circumcision/#comment-177 shemote Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:43:20 +0000 http://blogs.tamu.edu/shemote/2007/11/14/oedipus-and-circumcision/#comment-177 The quote you mention is taken from the book "Symbols of Judaism." The complete quote actually says, "We believe that the incompleteness rendered by circumcision enables human beings to enter into the dimension of language. Circumcision removes a part of the man so that he will experience a sense of loss or incompleteness. This leads him to reconstruct and reinvent himself." That being said, my argument is not that ancient Greeks circumcised their sons, nor was it my intention to imply that they did. My paper is merely noting certain themes that are - in a very unconscious manner - cross-cultural and/or temporal. Your question about women managing is a very good one that is actually addressed in the above-mentioned book. It says, "Obviously, one would ask, 'What is the form of circumcision for females?' In the dialectical relationship between man and woman, the woman already carries this loss which inscribes her in the dynamic of desire. She does not therefore need to be circumcised." Hope that clears things up a bit. The quote you mention is taken from the book “Symbols of Judaism.” The complete quote actually says, “We believe that the incompleteness rendered by circumcision enables human beings to enter into the dimension of language. Circumcision removes a part of the man so that he will experience a sense of loss or incompleteness. This leads him to reconstruct and reinvent himself.”

That being said, my argument is not that ancient Greeks circumcised their sons, nor was it my intention to imply that they did. My paper is merely noting certain themes that are - in a very unconscious manner - cross-cultural and/or temporal.

Your question about women managing is a very good one that is actually addressed in the above-mentioned book. It says, “Obviously, one would ask, ‘What is the form of circumcision for females?’ In the dialectical relationship between man and woman, the woman already carries this loss which inscribes her in the dynamic of desire. She does not therefore need to be circumcised.”

Hope that clears things up a bit.

]]> By: Hugh7 http://blogs.tamu.edu/shemote/2007/11/14/oedipus-and-circumcision/#comment-139 Hugh7 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:58:11 +0000 http://blogs.tamu.edu/shemote/2007/11/14/oedipus-and-circumcision/#comment-139 You seem to imagine the ancient Greeks circumcised their sons. In fact they would have regarded it as a sacrilege against the temple of the body. If circumcision "enables human beings to enter into the dimension of language", how do women (and goyim) manage? You seem to imagine the ancient Greeks circumcised their sons. In fact they would have regarded it as a sacrilege against the temple of the body. If circumcision “enables human beings to enter into the dimension of language”, how do women (and goyim) manage?

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