Bisexuality in the Ancient World

Front Cover
Yale University Press, Jan 1, 2002 - Social Science - 286 pages

In this readable and thought-provoking history of bisexuality in the classical age, Eva Cantarella draws on the full range of sources--from legal texts, inscriptions, and medical documents to poetry and philosophical literature--to reconstruct and compare the bisexual cultures of Athens and Rome.

Reviews of the earlier edition:

"Cantarella presents the ancient evidence in a straightforward fashion, draws insightful comparisons between heterosexuality and homosexuality, and elucidates the larger cultural context of erotic experience. With its wide scope the book speaks to the classicist, the layman with an interest in antiquity, the student of sexuality, and even to the unabashed seeker of piquant anecdotes." --John F. Makowski, Classical Journal

"An important study that is destined to take its place next to the classic works of Foucault and Pomeroy." --Alan Mendelson, History: Reviews of New Books

"Offers a valuable, close-in reassessment of intricate evidence, freshly researched, readable, and open-minded." --Alan Sinfield, Gay Times

"This is a book I recommend for all students of sexology."--Milton Diamond, Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality
"Easily the best book on the topic." --John Buckler, Historian

 

Contents

The Beginnings the Greek Dark Age and the Archaic
3
The Classical Age
17
Erotic Manifestations
48
Plato 58 Xenophone 63 Aristotle 65 Plutarch
73
Love Between Women 78 Women and Male Homosexuality
91
The Archaic Period and the Republic
97
Subjecting a Roman 104
115
Catullus Tibullus Propertius Lucretius Virgil
142
The Empire
155
Conclusions
211
Abbreviations
269
Copyright

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About the author (2002)

Eva Cantarella is professor in the Institute of Roman Law at the University of Milan. Cormac O'Cuilleanain is lecturer in Italian at Trinity College, Dublin.

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