Before Sexuality [Paperback]

Froma I. Zeitlin (Editor), John J. Winkler (Editor), David M. Halperin (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691002215 | ISBN-13: 978-0691002217 | Publication Date: August 12, 1991

A dream in which a man has sex with his mother may promise him political or commercial success--according to dream interpreters of late antiquity, who, unlike modern Western analysts, would not necessarily have drawn conclusions from the dream about the dreamer's sexual psychology. Evidence of such shifts in perspective is leading scholars to reconsider in a variety of creative ways the history of sexuality. In these fifteen original essays, eminent cultural historians and classicists not only discuss sex, but demonstrate how norms, practices, and even the very definitions of what counts as sexual activity have varied significantly over time. Ancient Greece offers abundant evidence for a radically different set of sexual standards and behaviors from ours. Sex in ancient Hellenic culture assumed a variety of social and political meanings, whereas the modern development of a sex-centered model of personality now leads us to view sex as the key to understanding the individual. Drawing on both the Anglo-American tradition of cultural anthropology and the French tradition of les sciences humaines, these essays explore the iconography, politics, ethics, poetry, and medical practices that made sex in ancient Greece not a paradise of liberation but an exotic locale hardly recognizable to visitors from the modern world. In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume are Peter Brown, Anne Carson, Franoise Frontisi-Ducroux, Maud W. Gleason, Ann Ellis Hanson, Franois Lissarrague, Nicole Loraux, Maurice Olender, S.R.F. Price, James Redfield, Giulia Sissa, and Jean-Pierre Vernant.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[The contributors] have either renewed the study of traditional topics and sources . . . or brought neglected and marginalized topics centrally into the play of cultural history by means of their hermeneutic approach and omnivorous perspective. -- The Times Literary Supplement

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 12, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691002215
• ISBN-13: 978-0691002217
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,277,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a fine collection of recent scholarly work, February 23, 2000

By 

R. Lindstrom (US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Before Sexuality (Paperback)

I'm reading ancient Greek lit, and found this book very helpful in gaining an understanding of the world view of the writers and audiences of the Greek literature that's come down to us. It's information-dense, which I found helpful in my study. It's scholarly writing--not an entertainment read for most people.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection of essays, May 15, 2000

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Before Sexuality (Paperback)

A good collection of essays about sexuality in the ancient world, this book should not be missed by scholars attempting to understand gender or sex. Some of the articles are better than others, some theories and methods may make the serious scholar's nose cringe, but it is an excellent way to start one's own mind turning over the questions about ancient sexuality that for too long were over looked in history and classics.

6 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars YAWN!!!, November 16, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Chicago, Ill) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Before Sexuality (Paperback)

AS a prospective student of cultural anthropology, this book was just boring and tedious enough to encite me to change my major. Thank God for the David Lewis-Mayberry's and Bartoleme de Las Casa's of the world or I'd be studying basketweaving 101. A good read for those who enjoy an apologetic writing style. Not!