Homosexuality in Greece and Rome

Abstract

Abstract The most important primary texts on homosexuality in ancient Greece and Rome have been translated into modern, explicit English and collected together in this sourcebook. Covering an extensive period—from the earliest Greek texts in the late seventh century B.C.E. to Greco-Roman texts of the third and fourth centuries C.E.—the volume includes well-known writings by Plato, Sappho, Aeschines, Catullus, and Juvenal, as well as less well known but relevant and intriguing texts such as graffiti, comic fragments, magical papyri, medical treatises, and selected artistic evidence. These texts, together with introductions, clearly show that there was in fact no more consensus about homosexuality in ancient Greece and Rome than there is today. The material is organized by period and by genre, allowing readers to consider chronological developments in both Greece and Rome. Individual texts are presented with a short introduction contextualizing them by date and, where necessary, discussing their place within a larger work. Chapter introductions discuss questions of genre and the ideological significance of the texts, while the general introduction to the volume addresses issues such as sexual orientation in antiquity, moral judgments, class and ideology, and lesbianism.

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