Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in the Classical Tradition of the West

Beerte C. Verstraete, Vernon L. Provencal

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781317953364
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: LGBT Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

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 culturethrough 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.

Index Locorum

ACHILLES TATIUS
Leucippe and Clitophon
2.35-38	Pr
AELIAN
Varia Historia
3.12	Hb
12.7	Pe
AELIUS ARISTIDES
In Defense of Oratory
74	Pe
AESCHINES
Against Timarchus
10-12	Hb
12	Hb
102	Hb
138-39	Hb
AESCHYLUS
fr. 228	Pe
fr. 135-37 TGrF	Hb
ALCMAN
1.77	K
3.61-62	K
ALCAEUS
fr. 303a	K
AMPELIUS
Liber memorialis 11.4	B
ANACREON
358.8	K
ANTHOLOGIA PALATINA
7.1...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• ABOUT THE EDITORS
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Reconsiderations About Greek Homosexualities
• The Dispersion of Pederasty and the Athletic Revolution in Sixth-Century BC Greece
• Glukus Himeros: Pederastic Influence on the Myth of Ganymede
• Pindar’s Tenth Olympian and Athlete-Trainer Pederasty
• Boeotian Swine: Homosexuality in Boeotia
• “Sleeping in the Bosom of a Tender Companion”: Homoerotic Attachments in Sappho
• Some Myths and Anomalies in the Study of Roman Sexuality
• Representations of the Cinaedus in Roman Art: Evidence of “Gay” Subculture?
• The Originality of Tibullus’ Marathus Elegies
• On Kissing and Sighing: Renaissance Homoerotic Love from Ficino’s De Amore and Sopra Lo Amore to Cesare Trevisani’s L’impresa (1569)
• Light in Hellas: How German Classical Philology Engendered Gay Scholarship
• Hellenism and Homoeroticism in Shelley and His Circle
• The Greek Mirror: The Uranians and Their Use of Greece
• Eros Underground: Greece and Rome in Gay Print Culture, 1953-65
• Table of Abbreviations
• Index of Names and Terms
• Index Locorum
• General Index