Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents

Rating:
Summary: um, modernity bias, anyone?
Review: this is an excellent source book for texts on sexuality in antiquity, but one should COMPLETELY DISREGARD ALL AUTHOR'S NOTES. Halpern has an adjenda, as one can see in the title, since homosexuality as we define it now was invented in the nineteenth century and is inaplicable to classical studies. learning about the unique sexual categories and identities of the ancient world is fascinating, but do not be led astray by Halpern into thinking that the ancients had the same social/sexual mores as we do. other than the notes and some very odd exclusions and excerptations ("the dildo", a poem from ancient greece, is not included in its entirety, even though it is <100 lines long and really fascinating), this is an excellent book. just read with a grain of salt, and always try to find alternate translations!

Rating:
Summary: um, modernity bias, anyone?
Review: this is an excellent source book for texts on sexuality in antiquity, but one should COMPLETELY DISREGARD ALL AUTHOR'S NOTES. Halpern has an adjenda, as one can see in the title, since homosexuality as we define it now was invented in the nineteenth century and is inaplicable to classical studies. learning about the unique sexual categories and identities of the ancient world is fascinating, but do not be led astray by Halpern into thinking that the ancients had the same social/sexual mores as we do. other than the notes and some very odd exclusions and excerptations ("the dildo", a poem from ancient greece, is not included in its entirety, even though it is <100 lines long and really fascinating), this is an excellent book. just read with a grain of salt, and always try to find alternate translations!

Rating:
Summary: An Indispensible Sourcebook
Review: This is an exhaustive, absolutely fascinating compendium of a vast number of ancient texts, all of which make reference to classical attitudes concerning homosexuality. The array is fascinating, the conclusions myriad. For anyone who really wants to get down the the nitty gritty of ancient opinions -- or to see what day to day ancient life was like -- this book is indispensible.

Rating:
Summary: An Indispensible Sourcebook
Review: This is an exhaustive, absolutely fascinating compendium of a vast number of ancient texts, all of which make reference to classical attitudes concerning homosexuality. The array is fascinating, the conclusions myriad. For anyone who really wants to get down the the nitty gritty of ancient opinions -- or to see what day to day ancient life was like -- this book is indispensible.