Sex or Symbol: Erotic Images of Greece and Rome [Import] [Hardcover]

Catherine Johns (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press, Austin (1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714180424
• ISBN-13: 978-0714180427
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,664,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Too Indepth but Great Illustrations, July 16, 2003

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sex or Symbol?: Erotic Images of Greece and Rome (Paperback)

Catherine Johns begins her book by saying that there is a difference between the modern understanding of sex and the ancient one. Her thinking here is call into question our ideas of "obscene." After 150 pages Ms Johns has not developed her thinking beyond pointing out that sexual images were used in ancient times as symbols of fertility or symbols to ward off evil. It was not her intention to do so. She could have merely pointed out the difference in attitudes toward sex between a person who lived in a city and a person who lived on a farm.

Instead it was Ms Johns' intention to provide a pictorial survey of the variety of sexual symbols found in the Greco-Roman world and in this regard she makes her book outstanding. For example, on pages 72 and 73 she shows phallic symbols used as a pendant and as amulets. One amulet shows the combination of three symbols of luck: the phallus, the crescent, and the hand. Page 110 may show a political satire which pokes fun at Cleopatra. And page 82 shows a beautiful silver dish which depicts Pan dancing. There are 160 some odd illustrations in this book and it is the illustrations which make it worth reading.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, Scholastic, Thought-Provoking, and Lively., March 30, 2000

By 

N. Martin (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sex or Symbol?: Erotic Images of Greece and Rome (Paperback)

My title is composed of the first four adjectives that came to my mind when I thought of this book. Not only is this a splendid resource about an until recently sadly neglected part of ancient studies, erotic artworks, but it is also a historical reference on Victorian scholarship, and a warning about the perils of putting modern culture and preconceptions ahead of the truth found in scientific and historical studies.

I could continue singing the praises of this book for several more screens of text. Instead, I will simply recommend that anyone reading this review go on to read this book.