Eros: The Myth Of Ancient Greek Sexuality (Paperback)

by Bruce S Thornton (Author) "LET'S START WITH a famous "love story" from ancient Greece, as told by Apollonius of Rhodes in his Voyage of the Argo (ca. 250 B.C.)..." (more)
Key Phrases: idealized pederasty, sexual idealism, fancied sway, Peloponnesian War, Unjust Logic, Adonis Gardens (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
A potentially interesting study of ancient Greek sexuality sinks in the rough seas of antifeminist diatribe. At first Thornton (Classics/Calif. State Univ., Fresno) is merely pedantic, offering a welter of examples to support his point that the Greeks believed eros, or sexual desire, was a powerful, dangerous force of nature. He becomes almost interesting in noting that our sentimental ``dead metaphors'' of love as fire, disease, and insanity originated in vivid Greek images (and fears) of the destructive power of eros. However, once Thornton starts trying to show that Greek hatred of women was an expression of a legitimate fear of eros, he reveals himself to be less an objective scholar than an apologist for Greek misogyny. He snipes at the ``cheap moral superiority'' of ``our smug twentieth century'' in refusing to recognize that ``the power of women was the power of eros.'' His arguments would be offensive were they not so silly: In proposing Marilyn Monroe as the image of the ``sexually powerful woman'' in opposition to the models in Victoria's Secret catalogs with their ``boyish hips,'' he seems to be elevating a personal preference into an intellectual analysis of sexual imagery in the late 20th century. After similarly confused explorations of Greek marriage, homosexuality, and philosophy, Thornton concludes that the Greeks were wiser than we in distrusting eros and trying to control it through such rational institutions as patriarchy. With a breathtaking lack of supporting material, he asserts that our deviation from their ideas about sex is responsible for contemporary ``illegitimacy . . . crime, random violence, poverty, and social barbarism.'' This book loses sight of its valid points in a fumbling attempt to imitate the contrarian Camille Paglia (whom Thornton cites as a ``model''). And when he fingers eros as the true culprit in Susan Smith's drowning of her two children, he leaves the reader wondering whether he, and his Greeks, are incapable of attributing to women other passions (e.g., maternal) than sexual ones. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
A potentially interesting study of ancient Greek sexuality sinks in the rough seas of antifeminist diatribe. At first Thornton (Classics/Calif. State Univ., Fresno) is merely pedantic, offering a welter of examples to support his point that the Greeks believed eros, or sexual desire, was a powerful, dangerous force of nature. He becomes almost interesting in noting that our sentimental "dead metaphors" of love as fire, disease, and insanity originated in vivid Greek images (and fears) of the destructive power of eros. However, once Thornton starts trying to show that Greek hatred of women was an expression of a legitimate fear of eros, he reveals himself to be less an objective scholar than an apologist for Greek misogyny. He snipes at the "cheap moral superiority" of "our smug twentieth century" in refusing to recognize that "the power of women was the power of eros." His arguments would be offensive were they not so silly: In proposing Marilyn Monroe as the image of the "sexually powerful woman" in opposition to the models in Victoria's Secret catalogs with their "boyish hips," he seems to be elevating a personal preference into an intellectual analysis of sexual imagery in the late 20th century. After similarly confused explorations of Greek marriage, homosexuality, and philosophy, Thornton concludes that the Greeks were wiser than we in distrusting eros and trying to control it through such rational institutions as patriarchy. With a breathtaking lack of supporting material, he asserts that our deviation from their ideas about sex is responsible for contemporary "illegitimacy . . . crime, random violence, poverty, and social barbarism." This book loses sight of its valid points in a fumbling attempt to imitate the contrarian Camille Paglia (whom Thornton cites as a "model"). And when he fingers eros as the true culprit in Susan Smith's drowning of her two children, he leaves the reader wondering whether he, and his Greeks, are incapable of attributing to women other passions (e.g., maternal) than sexual ones. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (February 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813332265
• ISBN-13: 978-0813332260
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,057,049 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sane and Much Needed Perspective, December 27, 2000

By A Customer

First of all, ignore the ridiculous Kirkus review of this book! Bruce Thorton's "Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality" is a badly needed voice of sanity on this subject. Indeed, as Thorton himself says, "Most of the writing on ancient sexuality these days grinds the evidence in the mill of an 'advocacy agenda' supported by some fashionable theory that says more about the crisis of Western rationalism than it does about ancient Greece." He could have been talking about the Kirkus review. By thoroughly examining the ancient sources themselves, Thornton reveals what the Greeks actually thought and said about sexual relationships.

The Greeks understood, perhaps, something we moderns do not; the Greeks understood the "inhuman chaos of nature" and perceived human order as the triumph of the mind and culture over the brute forces of nature. Eros, Thornton explains, is not "love" but "sexual desire." It is a representation of how sex attacks the mind and breaks man's will. Eros is a "disease of the soul." Consequently, sexual attraction as madness is a theme that recurs throughout Greek literature. The Greeks saw sex and violence as two sides of the same irrational coin.

To the Greek way of thinking, mind must control the irrational. Subjection to passion and appetite is a form of slavery. The Greeks understood that women possess "a power that speaks to the irrational in men." And ultimately, "what disturbs men about women is what disturbs men about themselves...." Unlike those who would like to portray women as powerless victims of a male patriarchy, Thorton shows how and why the Greeks saw female erotic power as dangerous; it intensifies the chaotic passion of all humans. Women in ancient Greece were not powerless; "one does not fear what one perceives to be powerless." As Thorton points out, "The modern reductive view of Greek women as oppressed victim tells us very little about antiquity yet quite a lot about the late-twentieth-century politics of victimhood...."

Thornton does discuss pederasty and the symposium in his book and places them in their proper context. The habitually passive homosexual was considered unnatural and an aberation in the Greek world. He goes on to explain why the family and the production of heirs and future citizens was so important; legitimacy was much more important for an ancient Greek than it is in our modern society. He explains why the Greek wife, unlike her depiction in so many recent works, was so crucial to the smooth functioning of the society. The quality most sought after in a wife was self-control as she was the person charged with the management of the household. The Greek household was not a simple home as we moderns recognize it. Household management was an important function that included the management of the slaves, raising the children, the spinning of wool, the weaving of cloth, and overseeing agriculture as well as a hundred other crucial tasks. Many Greek households were mini-factories or estates. Greek men and women formed a joint enterprise.

This is a work of sanity that returns to what the Greeks themselves actually said about sexual relations. It presents a more balanced picture of Greek sexuality than the many writings that depict the Greeks as some sort of aberrant culture in order to further a political agenda. Sure they were different than we are, but human nature has pretty much remained constant over the last several thousand years. Perhaps that is Thornton's greatest sin in the eyes of some; he dares to portray women in ancient Greece as not powerless victims, but partners in the joint management of Greek society. Read this book if you want a clearer picture of what the Greek world was all about.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile, April 13, 2006

By	Timothy Doran (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To begin with, pace the Kirkus Review reviewer, whose review is not worthy of being posted: this book is not an apologetic for Greek or any other misogyny. Feminists usually understand the fact that just as it is not equivalent to anti-Semitism to be in opposition to certain policies of the State of Israel, it is also not equivalent to misogyny to disagree with certain claims that are advanced under the banner of feminism (particularly of radical feminism). In this book, Thornton does question certain claims that have become status quo in at least the form of fairly radical feminism that has become the current orthodoxy in academia and the American Left; so what? Does this make his book a "misogynist" work? Not at all, and the Kirkus reviewer claiming that it is such should think twice before making such an accusation, as should all people.

Nor, for that matter, is this book an "antifeminist diatribe." Yes, as noted above, Thornton takes issues with certain aspects of what has become de rigeur radical feminism. This does not make the work "antifeminist" unless one means "anti-certain-trends-within-radical-feminism" which is a much less catchy but more accurate phrase that desccribes almost everyone I know -- probably including the Kirkus reviewer. Feminism is not a monolithic block of consistently brilliant and great ideas: like every huge movement it has spawned silly and unadmirable things along with the great things (such as women voting) for which it is largely responsible. Many feminists disagree with each other on many things, and many people would not consider themselves feminists but are not misogynists. It is simply foolish to call a searching book like this names like that.

This is not the greatest book I have ever read in my life, but it's interesting and should be read by people interested in the subject. Those who call this "an ideological reading" should probably ask themselves whether other readings they prefer aren't ideological. The answer may frustrate them. Further, I have yet to read a negative review of the book that seemed TO ME to evaluate it on its own merits. Several reviewers, including the Kirkus review, seems to dislike Thornton's anti-theory approach, by calling his careful scrutiny and report of evidence "pedantic"; many have simplified his argument. Yes, Thornton is a fan of Hanson, and a friend; however, last time I checked, ideas are to be evaluated on their own merits, not on with whom someone has dinner. Further, the reviewer below who wishes to paint Thornton as an "apologist for the status quo" is treading on dangerous turf: does he wish to reduce all scholarship to the question of whether they uphold or "subvert" the "status quo"? And what exactly is the "status quo"? Should a scholarly work report on what it discovers in the evidence or should it use the evidence to undermine the "status quo"? Only the most foolish doctrinaire postmodernist believes the latter. Must all works of scholarship be evaluated on whether or not they support a given reviewer's perception of what the Revolution is trying to accomplish?

In this book, among other things, Thornton clearly wishes to demolish what he probably would regard as a namby pamby view of the Greeks as being unproblematically in favor of homosexuality. He has combed through centuries of texts to do this. The book is polemical and not heavy on social or literary theory, and should be read alongside and in contrast to something like David Halperin's utterly contrasting work to get a fuller picture of what is at stake here. Thornton's nods to Camille Pagila actually made the book very interesting to me: she is a startling and original thinker in certain respects, especially in her opposition to the Romantic, Rousseauian nature-worship aspect of modern thought, and if you liked her "Sexual Personae" and want to see how that set of ideas could be applied to classical literature regarding sex, this is an interesting effort.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb and daring, December 20, 2000

By A Customer

This is a superb treatment of Greek sexuality and culture in general, and anyone interested in a clear-eyed, unbiased look at ancient culture should buy it and read it carefully. Thornton presents a well-documented, convincing case that the Greeks viewed sexuality as enticing, necessary...and potentially very destructive. Thornton even dares to draw moral lessons for our own times from the thoughts and actions of the Greeks. The viciousness and malice of the Kirkus review presented above shows just how badly we academics need authors with Thornton's combination of courage and erudition. And it shows just how much truth can sting. Buy this book, but be careful when you start it--you won't be able to put it down till you're finished!