Payne - Fame: what the classics tell us about our cult of celebrity

I see the temples

of the deaths

of the bodies of Gods,

I see the old signifiers.

WALT WHITMAN,

Salut au Monde!

Leaves of Grass , 1856

Esthers Hair Salon Are we stalking Britney? Some memorable hair from mythology The haircut as a celebrity rite of passage What else of herself has Britney sacrificed for fame? The role of hair in ancient sacrifice Women who achieve fame by appearing to sacrifice themselves willingly Why do we want sacrifice anyway? Why famous people are useful victims Sex and violence: destructive or bonding? Why people want famous people to want all this How we have appeared to sacrifice Britney and to replace her with new Britneys or have we?

Linford Christie out of luck How ancient Greek winners became losers Achilles out of time How heroism has a half life, from rock lobbing to kettle hurling Ages of man from gold to iron So why bother? Dangerous play (Greek wrestling, Roman gladiators, bullfighting, and motor racing) Who killed Davey Moore? Bad sports From sports to war: is it glorious to cheat in battle? Why is it less glorious to survive?

What does Kate Winslet really look like? Retouching, a backward glance Anne of Cleves versus Louise OMurphy Jodie versus Jordan Boys versus girls The face of old age The Ballad of Women in Jaded Times

Michael Hutchences Strange Desire Poets who died young Fausts pact Marlowes Doctor Faustus Faust in the Romantic age The price of fame (Amy Winehouse) Why great musicians hide their fingers Did Paganini, Liszt, and Byron become famous by selling their souls? How Romantic ideas about genius meant more people could become famous Mozart versus Beethoven Some other unexpected rises to fame The Beatles change the world

Angelina in Glasgow Zeus in your bedroom Athene in Athens Guest stars in Homer The divine spark in us all How you, too, can sleep with Aphrodite Gods in battle Madonna in your dreams Happy Birthday, Mr. President How men became emperors, emperors became gods, but Claudius became a pumpkin Big Constantine is watching you I want to live forever But even the gods die

The martyrdom of Saint Perpetua Two types of fame: the martyrs and the impresarios How their detractors accused Christians of seeking fame The cult of martyrs before and after Christians How Christians beat the gladiators Can your patron saint make you famous, too? What do relics tell us?

Madonnas advice on sex How celebrities want to make our lives perfect Samantha from Sex and the City promises satisfaction Can celebrities be good role models for our children? How about Achilles? How does influence work? Messalinas and Marie Antoinettes decadent hairdos When were women allowed to be glamorous? What is a bad influence? Celebrity suicides from Werther to Kurt Cobain The assassination of Ronald Reagan Is there a healthy way of living the dream? Jade Goodys wedding

Big Brother 2002 Politicians as celebrities: how celebrities have helped us remove them Ostracisms in Athens The eviction of Aristides the Just Did it matter about Cimon and his sister? How ostracisms could be rigged Some famous sponsors of democracy: Benjamin Franklin; John Wilkes; the Princess of Wales, to be confused with Diana; Lafayette and Necker Jeanne de la Motte doesnt kiss but tells Robespierre denied celebrity death How citizens assumed control And then became Olympian Barack Obamas visitor book Tony Blairs showbiz mates Do celebrities last longer than politicians? The death of Saddam Hussein The downfall of Jackiey Budden

Under Mariah Careys skin How Mariah Carey defines those of us who arent Mariah Carey But we werent always individuals who could be defined Burial practices in prefame societies When you give gifts, you give yourself You are Orange Prizewinning author Rose Tremain Will Mariah Carey fade before her perfume fades? Every man is a piece of the continent Group portraits The cast of Celebrity Rehab Augustuss Altar of Peace Duccios altarpiece Last Suppers by Dieric Bouts and Tintoretto Holbeins surgeons Dutch militia companies Two views of the Royal Academy Sgt. Pepper Back to Celebrity Rehab

Elevation Surprising consorts from history The usefulness of lists Eddie Murphy and Mel B The rise and rise of Paul Sculfor Footballers wives How free are celebrities to choose their dates? What would Plato say? Why kudos should be included in prenups Why people lie about love Can the famous find secret rapture?

Demi Moore photographed with her mother Roman realism Was Cicero for real? Ghostwriters Chaff Memoirs and confessions: Rome; Saint Augustine; Rousseau Ermenonville and Dollywood Rousseaus influence on Bill Clinton, Jordan, and Larry Flynt Is Daniel Defoe a ghostwriter? How close to fiction is the celebrity memoir? High-tech revelation Sex-tape etiquette Whats really revealing about people is the way in which they reveal themselves Sienna Millers privacy Diana dives Louis XVI on MTV Cribs a visit from King Ashurbanipal

What Greta Garbo really said Some famous people are cool Anchorites Saint Simeon Stylitess fan base How famous people dont want to look like they want to be famous Lawrence of Arabia Celebrities in disguise Damnatio memoriae Whos who in Chaucers House of Fame Temporary like Odysseus

On one of her visits to Wembley Arena, northwest London, Mariah Carey began to sign enormous balls and toss them into the audience. These gifts bestowed her fame upon her fans, who could keep the spheres to show that, one night, something of Mariah Careys bounced their way. But what if you were already famous? One of the people who caught the balls was the late Jade Goody, a star of reality television who came to represent the unlikely celebrity, and who was, in her brief, brash life, loved and loathed, often by the same people, and at the same time. Certainly she inspired revulsion when she caught one of these balls (it helped that she was standing on her chair). The woman next to her said, You dont need that! You can get one anytime. To this onlooker, all fame felt the same. But Jade felt like an outsider herself, and managed to retain a sense of wonder throughout her exposure to the glamorous. When she recalled the brush with Mariah Carey in her memoirs, she wrote, I was looking at her like she was God or something.

This is a book about fame; but the problem with writing about fame is that everyone knows all about it already. Thats what fame means, after all. But more and more, we all know different things. We each of us have our own way of interacting with famous people, and even if our way of interacting with them is to avoid knowing much about them at all, well, thats still a response to them. I remember being surprised when, after a supper with friends I admire for their braininess, we all sat down to watch Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! Since this was the first season of the original British version, I was witnessing something that would soon become an international brand. Not that I appreciated it at the time. Back

Caesar, I want no more to do you right

than I am bothered if youre black or white.

Even in this dismissal, Caesar rates a name-dropping. The joke appears to be that Caesar was hard to miss, unless youd spent the last decade in Parthia. All Caesars ambition, Rubicon crossing, and attempts to organize his own deification ended up making him seem try-hard. The Romans had what they called a course of honors, a hierarchy of possible promotions, and Caesar had reached the top of it. Still, you could always rely on poets to pooh-pooh the whole process.