Jase
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The other preoccupation of the Greeks was the fate of the soul after death. This led to the emphasis of the enjoyment of physical pleasure in this world (Cahn, 1990; Russell,1981). In this context Greek society became obsessed if not paranoid about physical and intellectual fitness. There was little room for any imperfection. It was common practice for babies with impairments to be killed. For instance, in Sparta, one of the two most important Greek city states, all newborn children were inspected by the city elders and if they were deemed to be ‘weakly’ or impaired they were taken and left exposed to the elements to die (Tooley, 1983). All Greek men were expected to compete individually and collectively in pursuit of physical, mental and aesthetic perfection. It is clear from this beginning that the Social Representations of disability were negative and of primary importance to the nature of society. This obsession with total beauty was reflected in the Chapter 1: Introduction The Social Representations of Disability Michael Devenneyarts and philosophy of Greek culture. All Greek gods and goddesses were seen to be the model on which everyone should base their achievements. It is very important to note that there is only one impaired god. Hephaestes, who was the son of Zeus and Hera. Zeus banished him from heaven. However, Aphrodite the goddess of love takes pity on him and marries him, though she takes a non-disabled lover named Ares because her husband was a ’cripple’. This firmly embedded the representation that impairment means exclusion and impotency.
