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Arguing that homosexuality of the classical era grew out of the prehistorical practice of initiatory homosexuality, Sergent examines initiation rites in a wide variety of ancient cultures, particularly in Crete and among a group of Germanic peoples. In these two cultures, a sexually active adult, the erastes, was the mentor/suitor of an adolescent boy, the eromenos. The boy was ritualistically kidnapped and then lived in the wild for a prescribed period, during which time the erastes taught him to hunt and slept with him. Killing a boar or bear - the final trial - qualified the eromenos as a hunter and signified his ascent to adult status. To illustrate his compelling thesis, Sergent provides an exhaustive survey of the Greek myths, demonstrating that the homosexual relationships of male gods and heroes follow a similar pattern of ritual initiation.
Lovers' Legends is a collection of homoerotic Greek myths restored from their primary sources. The collection also includes a new rendition of Lucian's Erotes. The volume is illustrated with ancient art.
Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality is a controversial book that lays bare the meanings Greeks gave to sex. Contrary to the romantic idealization of sex dominating our culture, the Greeks saw eros as a powerful force of nature, potentially dangerous and in need of control by society: Eros the Destroyer, not Cupid the Insipid, is what fired the Greek imagination. The destructiveness of eros can be seen in Greek imagery and metaphor, and in their attitudes toward women and homosexuals. Images of love as fire, disease, storms, insanity, and violence—top 40 song clichés for us—locate eros among the unpredictable and deadly forces of nature. The beautiful Aphrodite embodies the alluring danger of sex, and femmes fatales like Pandora and Helen represent the risky charms of female sexuality. And homosexuality typifies for the Greeks the frightening power of an indiscriminate appetite that threatens the stability of culture itself. In Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Seualily, Bruce Thornton offers a uniquely sweeping and comprehensive account of ancient sexuality free of currently fashionable theoretical jargon and pretensions. In its conclusions the book challenges the distortions of much recent scholarship on Greek sexuality. And throughout it links the wary attitudes of the Greeks to our present-day concerns about love, sex, and family. What we see, finally, are the origins of some of our own views as well as a vision of sexuality that is perhaps more honest and mature than our own dangerous illusions.
This groundbreaking study, among the earliest syntheses on female homosexuality throughout Antiquity, explores the topic with careful reference to ancient concepts and views, drawing fully on the existing visual and written record including literary, philosophical, and scientific documents. Even today, ancient female homosexuals are still too often seen in terms of a mythical, ethereal Sapphic love, or stereotyped as "Amazons" or courtesans. Boehringer's scholarly book replaces these clichés with rigorous, precise analysis of iconography and texts by Sappho, Plato, Ovid, Juvenal, and many other lyric poets, satirists, and astrological writers, in search of the prevailing norms, constraints, and possibilities for erotic desire. The portrait emerges of an ancient society to which today's sexual categories do not apply—a society "before sexuality"—where female homosexuality looks very different, but is nonetheless very real. Now available in English for the first time, Female Homosexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome includes a preface by David Halperin. This book will be of value to students and scholars of ancient sexuality and gender, and to anyone interested in histories and theories of sexuality.
Halperin's subject is the erotics of male culture in ancient Greece. Arguing that the modern concept of "homosexuality" is an inadequate tool for the interpretation of these features of sexual life in antiquity, Halperin offers an alternative account that accords greater prominence to the indigenous terms in which sexual experiences were constituted in the ancient Mediterranean world. Wittily and provocatively written, Halperin's meticulously drawn windows onto ancient sexuality give us a new meaning to the concept of "Greek love."
New and surprising insights into homoeroticism of times past In ancient times, the Greek god Eros personified both heterosexual and homosexual attractions. Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in Classical Tradition of the West explores the homosexual side of the vanished civilizations of Greece and Rome, and the resulting influence on the Classical tradition of the West. Respected scholars clearly present evidence that shows the extensive nature of homoeroticism and homosexuality in the Classical world. Iconography such as vase decoration and carved gemstones is presented in photographs, and the text includes an examination of a wide selection of literature of the times with an eye to opening new vistas for future study. Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in Classical Tradition of the West lays to rest the myths generally accepted as truth about Greco-Roman views on homosexuality and brings fresh insights to philological and historical scholarship. This book provides nuanced, humanistic discussions on the common phenomena of same-sex desire. Topics include Greek pederasty and its origins, the Greek female homoeroticism of Sappho, homosexuality in Greek and Roman art and literature, and the emergence of the gay liberation movement with the influence of discussions of Greek and Roman homosexuality in the twentieth century. The text is extensively referenced and includes helpful notation. Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in Classical Tradition of the West provides a comprehensive table of abbreviations, subject index, and index of names and terms. It discusses in detail: the integral role athletic nudity played in athlete-trainer pederasty the central role of pederasty in Greek history, politics, art, literature, and learning tracing the history of the Ganymede myth how the athletic culture of Sparta contributed to the spread of pederasty in Greece homosexuality in Boeotia in contrast to the rest of Greece the homoeroticism of Sappho dispelling generally accepted myths prevalent about Roman sexuality Roman visual representations of homosexuality as evidence of prevailing attitudes homoerotic connotations in literature and philosophy of the Italian Renaissance the effect of German classical philology on gay scholarship English Romantic poets and the importance of male love in their lives the Uranians’ use of allusions and themes from ancient Greece the building of intellectual community through gay print culture—through the use of Greece and Rome as models and more Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in Classical Tradition of the West is essential reading for Classicists, specialists in gender/sexuality studies, humanists interested in the classical tradition in Western culture, psychologists, and other social scientists in human sexuality.
Ancient Greece comes alive in this exploration of the daily lives of ordinary people-men and women, children and the elderly, slaves and foreigners, rich and poor. With new information drawn from the most current research, this volume presents a wealth of information on every aspect of ancient Greek life. Discover why it was more desirable to be a slave than a day laborer. Examine cooking methods and rules of ancient warfare. Uncover Greek mythology. Learn how Greeks foretold the future. Understand what life was like for women, and what prevailing attitudes were toward sexuality, marriage, and divorce. This volume brings ancient Greek life home to readers through a variety of anecdotes and primary source passages from contemporary authors, allowing comparison between the ancient world and modern life. A multitude of resources will engage students and interested readers, including a Making Connections feature which offers interactive and fun ideas for research assignments. The concluding chapter places the ancient world in the present, covering new interpretations like the movie 300, the founding of modern Greece, and the ways in which classical culture still affects our own. With over 60 illustrations, a timeline of events, a glossary of terms, and an extensive print and nonprint bibliography, this volume offers a unique and descriptive look at one of the most influential eras in human history.
"Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love makes a powerful statement about the realities of gay and lesbian psyche. A gay and lesbian psychic perspective may at first be startling, but once examined, it proves to be unforgettable." -The Advocate
To the Greeks, their gods and heroes were the encounter with the divine as well as true history. By means of myths, the Greeks stamped with authenticity their names, their land, their customs, their very existence. Thus the myths remain an open window through which we can look upon our forefathers and the ways they imagined themselves. Their stories reflect a nuanced morality that integrated same-sex love with spiritual teachings. By turn heroic, cautionary or shamanic, they always maintain the dignified cadence of ancient epic. The myths proclaim that self-indulgence, betrayal and violence are to be despised, and that love is the highest good.