Greek Homosexuality: Updated and with a new Postscript [Paperback]

K. J. Dover (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A landmark study...One cannot underestimate the importance of Mr. Dover's book. With philological brilliance and scholarly objectivity, he presents facts that can no longer be ignored. It is a step closer toward understanding the complex nature of the Greeks, whom we claim as cultural fathers. It is also a step closer to understanding human nature.
--Erich Segal (New York Times Book Review )

An unprejudiced description of the homosexual phenomena depicted by classical Greek artists and writers has long been an urgent desideratum. Dover's book fills this need successfully. In its collection and interpretation of the ancient evidence it will be indispensable for broader and/or more specialized explorations of the sexual aspects of Greek art and society.
--Jeffrey Henderson (Classical World )

In Greek classes past teachers used to slide quickly over the exact nature of the relationships between men and boys in ancient Athens... In this expert, candid, and wry study all is made clear. (Washington Post )

Greek Homosexuality provides--finally--an unvarnished look at Athenian homosexuality...[It is] now the standard volume on the subject.
--John Scarborough (American Historical Review )

Dover's is an authoritative discussion; he is a philologist of great stature with wide achievement as editor, commentator, and literary critic...The subject was one which needed to be exposed to the light of day; we can be thankful that it has been done by a great scholar and one who treats the subject without prejudice.
--Bernard Knox (New York Review of Books )

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (October 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674362705
• ISBN-13: 978-0674362703
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #689,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Original History of Man-Boy Relations in Antiquity, July 3, 2005

By 

D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greek Homosexuality: Updated and with a new Postscript (Paperback)

When one considers that male-male relations had their dominant Western etiology in Greece antiquity, it's only natural to look back to the ancient records and artefacts to illustrate and examine how these relations existed in their antique form. What we see is probably different from what we expect.

First, it's important to distinguish "homosexuality" from its practice in antiquity to what it is today. In Greek culture several centuries before Christ, homosexuality as we know it today did not exist, except in Sparta. While Dover does not make this as explicit as he could, one cannot read the extensive material Dover covers without forming this conclusion. In Greek antiquity, the relationships were more oriented toward man-boy relations rather than man-man relations. Identifying these man-boy relations as "homosexual" is certainly tendentious, at best.

Second, the "mentoring" that older men functioned for their younger devotees in exchange for the devotee's sexual favors is in stark contrast to anything "homosexual" in our own age. Indeed, today we more likely to lock the older man up in prison for paedophilia, rather than extol him for his service of introducing younger boys to upper Greek society. The cultural context of Athens is anything but homosexual, but truly something else.

Third, the ubiquity of the man-boy pattern (primarily around Athens) as opposed to the man-man pattern (primarily around Sparta) illustrates another distinguishing form of "homosexuality" in antiquity. The historian must go where the artefacts are, and the artefacts are not from Sparta, but from Athens, where the man-boy paradigm prevailed. The book's title might have been more appropriately been retitled "Athen's Paedophilia" rather than "Greek Homosexuality."

Dover's account is both exhaustive and replete. His historian's viewpoint reports the facts and artefacts dispassionately as his discipline allows, but it might seem to many a bit too confining now that other histories have subsequently appeared. (For an excellent history of homosexuality over the ages, I heartily recommend Crompton's "Homosexuality & Civilization" by Harvard University Press.)

If one's purpose is a limited understanding of sexual mores as it was practice in Athen's antiquity, then this book certainly achieves that goal. However, this book really isn't a "gay" or true "homosexual" history at all. It's only by a stretch of definition that man-boy sexual and social enculturation in Greek antiquity really reflects any "homosexuality." If this limited scope is your interest, then this is really the best book of its kind. But if your interest is more broadly "homosexual," then Crompton's book is the one to turn to.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and informative., May 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Greek Homosexuality: Updated and with a new Postscript (Paperback)

An excellent, extremely thorough study of homosexuality in Ancient Greece. Dover distinguishes between actual gays, gigolos, and heterosexuals who behave as if they are gay. The author provides mounds of thoroughly critiqued evidence to support every point, as well as candidly admitting to errors in past editions of the book--and correcting them. Yes, it's a history book, but it's also incredibly fascinating. The style is very readable, and the text is approachable by the layman as well as by the scholar. I couldn't put it down. Excellent work!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic and Informative., January 6, 2009

By 

Hunter Ellis (VA, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Greek Homosexuality (Hardcover)

Dover has one of the only full accounts on Greek Homosexuality to its full extent. Dover was able to write this in a time when homosexuality was swept under the rug and still able to write it unbiased and simply educational. Dover truly set a landmark.