Customer Reviews

The Latin Sexual Vocabulary

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Do not be deceived: this is a scholarly work which deals with Latin sexual terms in a clinical and analytical manner. I purchased this book for a college Latin course and discovered it to be bereft of titillation, although the bright orange cover and stark, simple black lettering of my edition raised more than a few eyebrows when I studied in the student center. But if you are curious what the Roman terms for some of our expletives were, or if you want to learn Roman epithets and sexual insults which do not even possess an English equivalent, then this is the book for you. It is also indispensable for reading and understanding the works of Horace and especially Catullus in the original Latin.

A brilliant approach to a risque topic. Untouched by other linguists, the Latin sexual vocabulary is a jewel that J.N. Adams exposes. A must have for anyone who enjoys snuggling-up with a good Latin romance.

J.N. Adams' LATIN SEXUAL VOCABULARY is a quite extensive philological examination of sexual terminology in Latin, covering every word that has come down to us in ancient literature. It gives etymological origins whenever possible, as a great many terms came into Latin from Greek, and he also gives us common euphemisms and circumlocutions used whenver the terms themselves were to be avoided. The core of the book is divided into four sections: "Mentula and its synonyms," "Designations of the female genitalia," "Culus and its synonyms," and "The vocabulary relating to sexual acts."

Adams' work is necessary reading for Latinists who wish to understand as much as possible the cruder prose of the satirists, among others. One would not get the most out of Juvenal or Petronius without the familiarity with the vocabulary which this book gives. Curiously, those with an interest in anthropology or sociology might also profit from the work, as so many sexual concepts held to be modern inventions can be traced to Roman times.

If I have one complaint about the book, it is that it shows neither the origin of some items in Proto-Indo-Europe nor the continuance of this vocabulary in Romance. A mention of how, for example, Latin "futuere" survives in Spanish "joder" would have been a great help in putting this aspect of Latin in historical context.

For Latin philologists who desire a greater understanding of the saucier authors, Adam's work is worth reading. Historical linguists, however, will be disappointed by its lack of a diachronic view, as I was. I might also mention that a similar work is available on Greek sexual terms, Henderson's The Maculate Muse: Obscene Language in Attic Comedy.

I originally purchased this book to use in conjunction with Martial's Epigrams. The Walter Ker Loeb then in use was published after the turn of the century and is very bowdlerized, unlike the current Shackleton Bailey which uses current vulgar equivalents. I had a most unexpected surprise when I was reading some of the earlier books in Colleen McCullough's Fall of the Roman Republic series. Ms. McCullough is very conscientious and considerate of her readers in providing a glossary at the end of each book, but at one point, I found her mistranslating the noun irrumator (and the cognate verb irrumo), as involving the passive rather than active participant in certain misbehaviour. Like the dedicated professional that she is, McCullough corrected the mistake with a courageous admission of fault in her next volume and I can only assume that it was brought to her attention by another owner of James Adams' fine work. It is certainly handier (and far less expensive) than using an Oxford Latin Dictionary and offers a far more interesting exposition of the subject areas than any mere reference work. I highly recommend it and commend the Johns Hopkins Press for publishing such an esoteric but worthy project.

An excellent resource and indispensible aid to any Latinist interested in literature pertaining to erotic matters. Many obscure or otherwise hard to find facts are included and the material is presented in an orderly and structured way that makes it easy to find.

Another highly recommendable book and related book is Envocation to Priapus which not only offers a wide field of study concerning terms found in the "Latin Sexual Vocabulary" but also includes a lot of additional material and analysis not found anywhere else.

This book is a long-needed companion to Jeffrey Henderson's Maculate Muse, which covers the same topic for Classical Greek. It covers the subject pretty well, though it mysteriously omits locutions for the female breasts. Both Latin Sexual Vocabulary and The Maculate Muse belong on every Classicist's bookshelf. Without them one's comprehension of many pieces of literature out of antiquity is badly crippled.

It's very scholarly, which is good, but it could use some spice. The author never uses English obscenities to define the ancient ones. It's useful and interesting nonetheless.