Bisexuality in the Ancient World [Paperback]

Eva Cantarella (Author), Cormac O Cuilleanain (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 1994

Bisexuality was intrinsic to the cultures of the ancient world. In both Greece and Roman, sexual relationships between men were acknowledged, tolerated and widely celebrated in literature and art. For the Greeks and Romans, homosexuality was not an exclusive choice, but alternative to and sometime simultaneous with the love of a woman. Drawing on a range of sources - from legal texts, inscriptions and medical documents to poetry and philosophical literature - Eva Cantarella reconstructs the bisexual cultures of Athens and Rome and compares them. She explores the psychological, social and cultural mechanisms that determined male sexual choice and considers the extent to which that choice was free, directed or coerced. She analyzes the link between social class and homosexuality, and assesses the impact of homosexual relations on heterosexual ones. In Greece the relationship between men and young boys was deemed the noblest of associations, a means of education and spiritual exaltation, though such relationships were regulated and never left to individual sponeneity. In Rome, however, the sexual ethic mirrored the political, males being domineering in love as in war. The critical sexual distinction was that between active and passive, the victims commonly being slaves or defeated enemies rather than young Roman freemen. Cantarella explains how the etiquette of bixexuality was corrupted over time and how homosexuality came to be regarded as an unnatural act when it was influenced by the pagan and Judeo-Christian traditions. The book also has chapters on love between women and the response of women to male homosexuality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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. The book is a treasure trove of both major areas of information that sexologists would do well to master and trivia that they might enjoy knowing." Milton Diamond, Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality "Easily the best book on the topic." John Buckler, Historian "A valuable contribution to scholarship about sexual orientation." Richard C. Friedman, Psychoanalytic Quarterly "A sexological tour de force... Among students and professionals with even a minimum of sexological curiosity, it will strike a new spark of enlightenment." John Money, Ph.D., Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "Cantarella's work, based on classical sources, points up the multiplicity of possible social and cultural solutions to the underlying problem of bisexual trends in men... It shows us that every society struggles to formulate ways in which to order the complexity of human sexuality and thus places our current American efforts within a far larger perspective of human history." Jessica P. Byrne, M.D., Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Journal of Reviews "Eva Cantarella's cultural history of bisexuality in the ancient world... is an intriguing and accessible study that draws upon a wide range of primary texts and sources... A fascinating account of the multi-layered nature of bisexuality in ancient times." Paul Johnson, Pink Paper "Ambitious, learned, and thought-provoking... The author displays an impressive command of a wide range of primary and secondary sources, and writes with blessed clarity." Charles C. Chiasson, Southern Humanities Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (January 26, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300059248
• ISBN-13: 978-0300059243
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,663,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars lots of good stuff, a few problems, July 26, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Bisexuality in the Ancient World (Paperback)

First the problems. When a scholar uses such a wide range of sources, it is inevidentual that some will be used better than others. I think Cantarella has a good grasp of the legal and epigraphical evidence but her use of literature and plays is more tenuous. Likewise she crosses over from time periods at times, combining Greek sources from a Roman context into her discussion about Greece when they might best be a reflection of a new multiculture world. Finally, I can tell this was done on a computer. Several pages are word for word from her previous book "Pandora's Daughters". Computers are wonderful things but I don't think they should take the place of writing something new. There are several good points about this book. She uses a wide range of sources and attempts to place "reality" apart from "philosophy" a difference often overlooked in scholarship it seems. Her attempt to look at women's bisexuality is good though limited by the sources available. Finally the book is written clearly so that both scholar and non-scholar can appreciate and learn from it.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential For All Gay Males; Especially Questioning Youth, August 27, 2009

By 

Sussex Pond Pudding (Somewhere in the desert, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bisexuality in the Ancient World (Paperback)

This is the most thorough book on the subject of homosexual sex and bisexuality in the ancient world that I have ever read. It is filled with fascinating information on the topic compiled and analyzed by the author. Rather than go into the merits of this book I want to take this space to encourage all questioning young men who stumbled upon this review to read this. If I had had this book when I was 12 or 13 I would have been far, far better off.

The common stereotype that we all know is that homosexual males are effeminate, weak sissies or they are incredibly masculine and dress in leather, all the while proving the former stereotype. The muscle men with mustaches and tattoos are simply compensating for their self-hatred and feelings of not "being a man".

This book shows that it was not always this way. Homosexual relationships were considered spiritual, educational and good. Those of you who watched the movie 300 about Thermopylae may not know that those brave warriors who defended their country to the last man were almost certainly bisexual if not homosexual. But they weren't trying to prove anything about themselves. They were regular guys doing what men do and doing it courageously. Those Spartan warriors were the ultimate heroes.

My point is do not beat yourself up by thinking you are going to end up as Boy George or something. You may be part of an elite group of men who know much more than the average person does about love and life and what it means to be a man. If you are effeminate so be it. That is, of course, fine. But if you are like I was as a teenager the concept of homosexuality did not sit well with me at first as I was always a traditionally masculine American boy. When I finally accepted who I was I searched out role models and could fine virtually no one who was like me. The closest I came was William Burroughs (he took heroin and shot guns so he beat out everyone else), for whom I still have some respect, but who is also a dead end psychologically, morally, practically and philosophically.

What I am suggesting is that this book provides a concept of homosexuality and bisexuality free of the persecution imposed upon it by later cultures (check out my other reviews and you will get a clue as to who I blame). Read it and live it. There is nothing wrong with you. You are a man just as much as anyone else. Moreso perhaps. This book may make it easier for you to understand that.

You might also want to watch some Rock Hudson, Randolph Scott, Marlon Brando, Errol Flynn, James Dean, Montgomery Clift and Cary Grant movies. Just a friendly afterthought. They were all either gay or bisexual and every man in the country wanted to be just like them.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as recent as some might have us believe..., April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bisexuality in the Ancient World (Paperback)

This is a delightful book that makes a delicious change from the normal books on bisexuality. Full of great stories and a wonderous insight from start to finish, it kept me enthralled until the last page and then made me wish for more. It's rather refreshing to see something that deals with a history of bisexuality, rather than a personal insight. This made it even more of a gem, but in itself it is a must for every bi bookcase.