People with a History: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* History Sourcebook
Section I The Ancient Mediterranean
Editor: Paul Halsall
Contents:
Section I: The Ancient Mediterranean
Go to the following pages for other parts of People with a History
Chapter 2: The Ancient Near East
and Egypt
The oldest human cultures complex enough to be called "civilizations"
seem to have emerged in Ancient Iraq and Anatolia, and in Egypt.
The basic historical distinction between the two areas is that
Egypt had a more or less continuous "national" history
from the earliest Pharoahs until the rise of Islam, while Iraq,
Syria and Anatolia, being much more geographically exposed, were
homes to succeeding and not entirely continuous cultures - Sumeria,
Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Seleucia, to name only a few.
Despite the immense time covered, research into homosexuality
seems to have only just begun for these areas, and this is a section
of this page that will be developed as more information becomes
available. So far much of the discussion is based on Biblical
texts, and on the assumption that the hostility of the Hebrew
Bible to homosexual practice reflects homosexual activities associated
with the surrounding religions.
An area which need more research is evidence of "homoaffectionalism"
in these ancient societies: that is relationships based on desire
but not necessarily sexual. The epic story of Gilgamesh contains
one very important story in this regard.
Discussions:
Texts:
- The Book of Ani, or the Egyptian Book of the Dead [At Upenn] [Internet Archive verison here]
The is the full text in E. Wallis Budge's translation. Homosexual
activity is addressed in the "Negative Confession".
Search for "lain with men".
- Contendings of Horus and Seth [trans Edward F. Wente, in The
Literature of Ancient Egypt, ed. William Kelly Simpson, (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), 108-26 [At Tour Egypt] [Internet Archive version here]; Also here [At MSU] [Internet Archive version here]. See also William Simpson, ed. The Literature of Ancient Egypt [Internet Archive]; and Wikipedia: The Contendings of Horus and Seth
The struggled between these two gods (Seth was brother and murderer
of Horus's father Osiris) in this New Kingdom literary text, has
distinct homosexual overtones - based on who was dominating whom.
- Mesopotamian Law and Homosexuality [At this Site]
- An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic [Project Gutenberg]
- Wikipedia: Epic of Gilgamesh
Contains links to various online texts of the epic. Note that in Tablet I:
Cols. 5-6, Gilgamesh relationship with Enkudu is explicitly said
to be like that "with a wife". Some versions, especially
summaries, elide the homoeroticism of the text..
- The Promise of Inanna to Gender Variants [Was At Aztriad, now Internet Archive]
- Myth of Cybele and Attis [Was At Aztriad, now Internet Archive]
- Avesta Vendidad: Fargard 8 - Zoroastrian Law Book on Homosexuality [At Avesta Homepage, with
links to text in original language] [Internet Archive version here]
There is some difficulty in dating Zoroastrian scriptures. The Gathas, the presumed writings of Zoroaster, are silent
on the subject. The legal texts here were collected in
the Vendidad, circa 250-650 CE, and are overtly hostile
to male homosexual activity. It has been suggested that they are
the root of the Hebrew Scripture's condemnation - they contain
the phrase "Lies with mankind as womankind" for instance.
This depends on the assumption that Vendidad is a collection
is of much earlier texts. But given the dates the influence may
have been from the Hebrew texts. There is a general discussion
of Zoroastrianism and Homosexuality on the net [Was at Religious Tolerance, now Internet Archive]
- Encyclopaedia Iranica: Homosexuality in Zoroastrianim [At Iranica Online] [Internet Archive arhcive version here]
- Coptic Spell: For a Man to Obtain a Male Lover
Egypt, [poss. 6th C. CE] [At this Site]
Web sites:
Back to Contents
Chapter 3: Ancient Greece
For modern western gays and lesbians, Ancient Greece has long
functioned as sort of homosexual Arcadia. Greek culture was, and
is, highly privileged as one of the foundations of Western culture
and the culture of sexuality apparent in its literature was quite
different from the "repression" experienced by moderns.
The sense of possibility the Greek experienced opened up can be
seen in a scene in E.M. Forster's Maurice where the hero
is seen reading Plato's Symposium at Cambridge.
It would be too simple, however, to see Greek homosexuality as
just a more idyllic form than modern versions. As scholars have
gone to work on the -- plentiful -- material several tropes have
become common. One set of scholars (slightly old-fashioned now)
looks for the "origin" of Greek homosexuality, as if
it were a new type of game, and argues that, since the literature
depicts homosexual eros among the fifth-century aristocracy,
it functioned as sort of fashion among that group. This is rather
like arguing that because nineteenth-century English novels depict
romance as an activity of the gentry and aristocracy, other classes
did not have romantic relationships. Another, now more prevalent,
group of scholars argue that term "homosexual", referring
they say to sexual orientation, is inappropriate to discussions
of Greek sexual worlds. Rather they stress the age dissonance
in literary homoerotic ideals, and the importance of "active"
and "passive" roles. Some stress these themes so intently
that it comes as a surprise to discover that we now the names
of quite number of long-term Greek homosexual couples.
As a result of such scholarly discussions, it is no longer possible
to portray Greece as a homosexual paradise. It remains the case
that the Greek experience of eros was quite different from
experiences in the modern world, and yet continues, because of
Greece's persistent influence on modern norms to be of special
interest.
Discussions:
Reviews:
-
Jennifer Neils: Robertson, Martin: The art of vase-painting in classical Athens. [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Robertson, Martin, The
art of vase-painting in classical Athens. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1992. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Earl Jackson Jr : Amy Richlin, ed.: Pornography and Representation in Greece [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Amy Richlin, ed. Pornography
and Representation in Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford UP,
1991. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Thomas M. Falkner: Strauss: Fathers and Sons [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Barry S. Strauss, Fathers
and Sons in Athens. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1993. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Michael W. Haslam: M.L. West, ed.: Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum cantati vol. [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] M L. West, ed., Iambi
et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum cantati vol. II, editio altera.
Oxford University Press, 1992. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Ellen Greene: Williamson: Sappho's Immortal Daughters [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Margaret Williamson, Sappho's
Immortal Daughters. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Brad Inwood & Mark Timmins: Dean-Jones: Women's Bodies [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Lesley Ann Dean-Jones, Women's
Bodies in Classical Greek Science. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1994. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Froma I. Zeitlin: Rabinowitz: Anxiety Veiled (II) [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, Anxiety Veiled: Euripides and the Traffic in Women. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 1993. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Gunhild Viden: Berggren/Marinatos, edd.: Greece and Gender [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Berggren, Brit & Marinatos,
Nanno (edd.), Greece and Gender. Bergen: Papers from the
Norwegian Institute at Athens 2, 1995.
[Internet Archive version here]
- Keith DeVries: Kilmer, Greek Erotica [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Martin F. Kilmer, Greek
Erotica. London: Duckworth, 1993. 286; figs. [Internet Archive version here]
-
David M. Schaps: Loraux: Experiences of Tiresias [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Loraux, Nicole, The Experiences
of Tiresias: The Feminine and the Greek Man. Translated by
Paula Wissing. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Richard Hamilton: Garland, R.: The Greek Way of Life: (Richard Hamilton) [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Robert Garland. The Greek Way
of Life: From Conception to Old Age. London: Duckworth 1990. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Richard Hamilton: Review of O. Murray ed. Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposion.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. [Review at Bryn Mawr
Classical Review]
Long summary review on the nature of a symposium. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Anton Bierl: Craik, E.M. (ed.): Owls to Athens: (Anton Bierl) [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Owls to Athens: Essays on Classical
Subjects Presented to Sir Kenneth Dover, edited by E. M. Craik.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
M.L. Lang: Cohen, David, Law, Sexuality and Society: The Enforcement of Morals in Classical Athens (M.L. Lang) [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] David Cohen. Law, Sexuality and
Society: The Enforcement of Morals in Classical Athens. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1991. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Pamela Gordon: Swain, Hellenism and Empire [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Swain, Simon, Hellenism
and Empire: Language, Classicism, and Power in the Greek World
AD 50-250. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Ralph Hexter: Wilhelm, ed.: Gay and Lesbian Poetry [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] James J. Wilhelm, ed., Gay
and Lesbian Poetry: An Anthology from Sappho to Michaelangelo.
Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, vol. 1874. New York
and London: Garland Publishing, 1995. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
James J. Claus: Bing, P. and Cohen, R. trans.,: Games of Venus [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Games of Venus. An Anthology
of Greek and Roman Erotic Verse from Sappho to Ovid, Introduced,
Translated, and Annotated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen, Routledge:
New York and London, 1991 [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Donald Lateiner: Versnel: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] H.S. Versnel. Transition
and Reversal in Myth and Ritual. Inconsistencies in Greek and
Roman Religion II. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1993. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- Eric C. Brook: James Davidson: The Greeks and Greek Love: A Radical Reappraisal of Homosexuality [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] James Davidson The Greeks and Greek love : a radical reappraisal of homosexuality in Ancient Greece. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- Jessica Wright: Female homosexuality in ancient Greece and Rome [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Sandra Boehringer, Female homosexuality in ancient Greece and Rome. Trans. Anna Preger. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021.[At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
A truly appalling
review by an ideologue which does not actually make clear how valuable Boehringer's work is in the field of Lesbian history. See instead Allison Glazebrook's review in The Classical Review, 73:1 (April 2023, 175-177) [You will need access to this site through a university subscription].
Texts:
For Greek texts, in addition to complete English texts (when available),
there are also links, where possible, to PERSEUS [At Tufts],
an Internet resources which gives access to texts in both English
and hyper-linked Greek.
Philosophical Views of Eros
- Plato (427-347 BCE): The Symposium (complete in one file, English) [At this Site]
The classic discussion of the nature of "eros". This
text provided a cultural basis for many educated homosexuals in
later eras.
- Plato (427-347 BCE): The Symposium [At
Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Plato (427-347 BCE): Phaedrus
(complete in one file, English) [Project Gutenberg]
Plato's use of homosexual eros, and the figure of the Charioteer
of the soul, has been of lasting importance in positive conceptions
of homosexual love.
- Plato (427-347 BCE): Phaedrus[At
Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Plato (427-347 BCE): The Laws (complete in one file, English) [Project Gutenberg]
Plato, although seeing eros as fundamentally homosexual in the
Symposium, adopted a more negative view here. He describes homosexual
sex as "unnatural".
- Plato (427-347 BCE): The Laws
636bff [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Aristotle (384-322 BCE): Homosexuality in The Politics (excerpts). [At this Site]The Full text of The Politics is available [Project Gutenberg]
- Aristotle (384-322 BCE): Homosexuality in The Nichomachean Ethics [Bk. VII, C. 5] [At this Site]
- Aristotle (384-322 BCE): "Friendship" in The Nichomachean Ethics [Bk VIII] [At this Site]
The Full text of The Nichomachean Ethics is available [Project Gutenberg]
- Demosthenes (384-322 BCE): Erotic Essay
[At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Demosthenes (384-322 BCE): Against Androtion 58 [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Sextus Empiricus (c. 200 CE): Outline of Pyrrhonism
1:152, 3:199 [At this Site]
Homosexuality in Literature
- Homer (c.850 BCE), Achilles Meets the Ghost of Patroclus Iliad 23, [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
Although Homer does not present Achilles and Patroclus as homosexually
active, later Greeks assumed that they were.
-
Sappho (late 7th C. BCE): Poems
[Was At Sappho.com, now Internet Archive]
The first poet to call the moon "silvery", very few
of Sappho's poems survive (only one in its entirety). But her
poems are among the best evidence we have of Lesbian love in antiquity.
-
Sappho (late 7th C. BCE): Poems [At Sacred Texts] [Internet Archive verion here]
- Theognis (first half 6th C. BCE): Homoereotic Poems [Was University of Texas, now Internet Archive]
- Theognis (first half 6th C. BCE): "To Kurnos" (See translations in Catherine S. Donnay: Pederasty in ancient Greece: a view of a now forbidden institution full text PDF Masters Thesis 2018 [Easter Washinton University] [Internet Archive verison here])
- Solon (c.638-558 BCE): "Boys and Sport" trans. J.A. Symonds [At Poetry Nook] [Internet Archive version here]
- Pindar (518- after 446 BCE): Ode on Theoxenos (See translation in Thomas K. Hubbard, Pindar, Theoxenus, and the Homoereotic Eye Arethusa 35 (2002) [At U Texas])
- [Wikisource]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Clouds (complete in one file, English) [At MIT]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Clouds (complete in one file, English) [Project Gutenberg]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Clouds
[At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
Although overtly "homophobic" at times, Aristophanes
assumes homosexuality is both common and a normal aspect of human
sexuality.
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Knights (complete in one file, English), [At MIT]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Knights (complete in one file, English) [Project Gutenberg]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Knights
[At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Thesmophoriazusae (complete in one file, English), [At MIT]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Thesmophoriazusae (complete in one file, English) [Project Gutenberg]
- Aristophanes (c.445-c.385 BCE): The Thesmophoriazusae
[At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Theocritus (c.320-c.260 BCE): Idylls 12 and 29 (trans. Edward Carpenter) [At this Site]
Idylls 5, 12, 26, 30 are all autobiographical. See also 13, and
23. The originator of pastoral or bucolic poetry. Idyll 12:30 describes a homosexual kissing contest at the Diocleia festival
at Megara.
-
Achilles Tatius (2nd C. CE): Women unfavourably compared with boy lovers.
Egypt, 2nd cent. CE, from Leucippe and Clitophon 2.37.5-9,
38.1-3. G [Was at Diotima, now Internet Archive]
From a debate between defenders of heterosexual and homosexual
intercourse in one of the most popular ancient Greek novels.
Homosexuality in Historiography
- Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): Histories 1.135 Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible]
On Persian pederasty as borrowed from the Greeks.
- Thucydides (c.460/455-c.399 BCE): on Aristogeiton and Harmodius
from The Peloponnesian War [At this Site]. Full Text available [At MIT] and here [Project Gutenberg]
- Xenophon (c.428-c.354 BCE): Anabasis 7.4.7 Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible] Full text here [Project Gutenberg]
On Episthenes and a boy.
- Xenophon (c.428-c.354 BCE): Cyropeadia 7.1.30 Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible] Full text here [Project Gutenberg]
On the value of comrades and lovers in battle. See also Anabasis 1.8.25 , Anabasis 1.9.31 for accounts of Cyrus' friends dying with him.
- Xenophon (c.428-c.354 BCE): Memorabilia 2.6.28 Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible] Full text here [Project Gutenberg]
Socrates' description of himself as "experienced in the pursuit
of men". In 1.3.12 he describes the effect of love on him.
- Xenophon (c.428-c.354 BCE): Symposium 8 Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible] Full text here [Project Gutenberg]
Section 8 begins an extended discussion of love, primarily homosexual.
- Xenophon (c.428-c.354 BCE): Constitution of Sparta, 2:13.
Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible] Full text here [Project Gutenberg]
On Spartan homosexuality. The whole of Const.Sparta 2 is
about the education of Spartan youths is of interest.
- Aeschines (c.390-c.322 BCE): Against Timarchus (complete in one file, English) [At this Site]
A legal brief delivered by Aeschines against a political opponent.
It is among the most revealing of all texts on Greek attitudes
to homosexuality. Full text here [Project Gutenberg]
- Aeschines (c.390-c.322 BCE): Against Timarchus [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
- Timaeus of Tauromenium (c.356-260 BCE): History of Sicily [At this Site]
Discusses pederasty among the "Tyrrhenians". He specifically
states that neither "active" nor "passive"
sex was considered objectionable.
- Strabo (64 BCE-after 24CE): Geography 10.4.20-21 - Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible]
Quoting Ephoros on Cretan homosexuality and rituals.
- Plutarch (46-120 CE): On The Sacred Band of Thebes
from Life of Pelopidas [At this Site]
-
Plutarch (46-120 CE): Life of Pelopidas
(complete) [At MIT] and here [Project Gutenberg]
- Plutarch (46-120 CE): Life of Solon [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
[1.3] explains how Solon forbade pederasty to slaves. [1.4] discusses
Peistratus' lover Charmus.
- Plutarch (46-120 CE): Life of Lycurgus (complete) [At MIT] and here [Project Gutenberg]
An important text for Spartan pederasty and sexual life in general.
-
Plutarch (46-120 CE): Life of Alexander
(complete) [At MIT] and here [Project Gutenberg]
An account of Alexander's life which makes clear his intimacy
with Hephasteion. Alexander's favourite Bagoas is also describes,
including a famous scene in which Alexander was called on by a
crowd to kiss Bagoas in public. He did.
-
Plutarch (46-120 CE): Parallel Lives
(complete in English) [At Chicago]
- Plutarch (46-120 CE): Erotic Essay, esp. #5
Although Plutarch discusses without any horror homosexual lover
in his Lives, here he is opposed to pederasty.
- Pausanias (c. 160 CE): Description of Greece 1.30.1 Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible]
The story of Timagoras and Meles and the altar of Love built by
Charmus. Refers to love between Athenian citizens and metics (resident
aliens).
- Pausanias (c. 160 CE): Description of Greece 9.23.1 [At Perseus]
On the hero-shrine of Iolaus at Thebes. Cf. Pindar: Olympian Odes
7:84 and Scholia.
- Pseudo-Apollodorus (2nd C. CE): Library 3.5.5. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text accessible]
On the Abduction of Chrysippus by King Laïus of Thebes, sometimes
said to have "invented" pederesty.
- Athenaeus (c. 200 CE): The Deipnosophists
Book 13:601-606 [At this Site]
The report of a Roman dinner party, in fact a weaving together
of anecdotes, it includes a wealth of gossip about homosexuals
in antiquity.
- Athenaeus (c. 200 CE): The Deipnosophists Book 13 (pt 1) Book 13 (pt 2) and Book 13 (pt 3) [Were At heliogabby, now Internet Archive]
-
Philostratus: The Life of Apollonius of Tyana: Of Eunuchs and of Passion [At mountainman.com] [Internet Archive version here]
Eunuchs were an important part of Greco-Roman gender systems.
Here Appollonius discusses their sexual appetites with the king
of Bablyon.
Images of Homosexuality and Homoeroticism
Websites:
- WEB Amazon Page [Was At Speakeasy, now Internet Archive]
Extensive site about the famed women warriors - with texts from
Herodotus and other ancient historians.
- WEB Women's Life in Greece and Rome [Was At Diotima, now Internet Archive]
Excellent collection of texts.
- WEB The Greek World of Mary Renault [Was At WWU, now Internet Archive]
Renault was a lesbian writer who produced a series of splendid
novels about ancient Greek male homosexuality. This site provides
synopses, character lists [keyed to Perseus], pictures and links
for each of these novels. Not exactly "history", but
very useful for historians.
- WEB Sexuality in Ancient Art [Was At Aztriad, now Internet Archive]
Back to Contents
Chapter 4: Ancient Rome
Discussions:
Reviews:
-
Christina S. Kraus: Sussman: Declamations of Calpurnius Flaccus [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Lewis A. Sussman: The
Declamations of Calpurnius Flaccus. Text, Translation, and
Commentary. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994 [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
David Meadows: Eyben: Restless Youth [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Emiel Eyben. Restless
Youth in Ancient Rome. London: Routledge, 1993. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- Wade Richardson: Panayotakis, Theatrum Arbitri [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Costas Panayotakis, Theatrum
Arbitri: Theatrical Elements in the Satyrica of Petronius.
Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1995. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- Salvador Bartera: Garrison, D.H. (ed): The Student's Catullus Third ed. [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] The Student's Catullus.
Ed. Daniel H. Garrison. University of Oklahoma Press. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- D. Potter: Treggiari, Susan: Roman Marriage [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Susan Treggiari. Roman Marriage.
Iusti Coniuges from the Time of Cicero to the time of Ulpian.
Oxford University Press. Oxford, 1991. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- Jeanne Neumann O'Neill: Mulroy, Horace's Odes and Epodes [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] David Mulroy, Horace's
Odes and Epodes. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
1994 [Was At BMCR, now Internet Archive]
- T. Corey Brennan: Brooten, Bernadette: Love Between Women [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Brooten, Bernadette J., Love between
Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism,
(Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1996) [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- David Halperin: Halperin on Brennan on Brooten [Review of review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review]
- Tom Hanks: Brooten, Bernadette: Love Between Women [Review in Presbyterians for LG Concerns Newsletter] [At QRD]
[Internet Archive version here]
- Craig Williams: Roman Sexualities [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Judith P. Hallett, Marilyn B. Skinner, Roman Sexualities 1998 [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- Bruce W. Frier: Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity [Review
at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Craig A. Williams, Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]. See Beert Verstraete: Review of Second Edition [BMCR] [Internet Archive version here].
- Maud Gleason: Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity [Review
at AHR] Craig A. Williams, Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. [At Research Gate]
Texts: Literary
-
Catullus (84-54 BCE): Selected Poems selections, trans. John Porter [Was At Univ. of Saskatechewan, now Internet Archive]
-
Catullus (84-54 BCE): Carmina 63 on the Gallae [Was At Aztriad, now Internet Archive]
In English and Latin
- Catullus (84-54 BCE): see especially poems 9, 15, 16, 24, 33, 38, 47, 48, 56, 61,
80, 81, 99
- Catullus (84-54 BCE): Complete Poems, trans A.S. Kline [At Poetry in Translation]
- Catullus (84-54 BCE): Complete Poems, trans Robinson Ellis [Project Gutenberg]
- Catullus (84-54 BCE): Complete Poems
in Latin [At obscure.org] [Internet Archive version here]
- Catullus (84-54 BCE): Complete Poems in Latin [Project Gutenberg]
- Catullus (84-54 BCE): Complete Poems in Latin and ten other languages [At Negenborn] [Internet Archive version here]
- Tibullus (c.55-19 BCE): Elegies
I:4, 8, 9
- Horace (65-8 BCE): Satires see 1,2,11, 113ff [Project Gutenberg]
- Horace (65-8 BCE): The Epodes and Carmen Saeculare [At Poetry in Translation] [Archive version here]
- Horace (65-8 BCE): Epode XI, trans Samuel Johnson [At Poetry Nook] [Internet Archive version here]
- Horace (65-8 BCE): Works see Odes IV, 1 and 10, in English [Project Gutenberg]
- Horace (65-8 BCE): Odes and Epodes see Odes IV, 1 and 10, in Latin [Project Gutenberg]
- Ovid (43 BCE-17CE): Metamorphoses 9:666-797 [At this Site]
The story of Iphis and Ianthe. One of the most important Roman
presentations of lesbianism, but somewhat problematic in its details.
- Ovid (43 BCE-17CE): Metamorphoses 10 (excerpts) [At this Site]
Male gods who love male humans: Zeus and Ganymede, Apollo and
Hyacinth.
-
Ovid (43 BCE-17CE): Metamorphoses full text of Dryden translation, [At MIT]
-
Ovid (43 BCE-17CE): Amores selections, trans. John Porter, [Was At Univ. of Saskatchewan, now Internet Archive]
- Ovid (43 BCE-17CE): Ars Amatoria, or theArt of Love esp. 2. 663-746 and 3.769-812. [Project Gutenberg]
Generally about heterosexual love, but with specific comparisons
with the love of youths.
- Ovid (43 BCE-17CE): Ars Amatoria, or th Art of Love 3.769-812 (The Dead Tibullus). [At Poetry in Translation]
-
Virgil (70-19 BCE): Aeneid 9 trans John Dryden [Was At EWAC, now Internet Archive]]
Virgil tells of the heroic deaths of the lovers Nisus and Euralus.
-
Virgil (70-19 BCE): Eclogues Complete. [In English, trans. Dryden] [Wikisource].
See especially Eclogue II -On Corydon and Alexis.
Love, not just sex, is the issue here. Also see Eclogue VII.
- Virgil (70-19 BCE): Eclogue II and Eclogue VII trans John William Mackail [Wikisource].
-
Virgil (70-19 BCE): Eclogues Complete, In Latin [At The Latin Library]
- Valerius Maxiumus (early 1st Cent CE): The History of Damon and Pythias from De Amicitiae Vinculo [At this Site]
- Seneca (4 BCE-65 CE): Natural Questions 1.16.1-3 [At this Site]
Seneca discusses a man who likes to be "passive" in
sex.
- Seneca (4 BCE-65 CE): Moral Letters 122 [At this Site]
What "natural" and "unnatural" meant to a
stoic philosopher.
- Petronius Arbiter (d.65 CE): Satyricon trans W.C. Firebaugh, complete [Wikisource]
- Petronius Arbiter (d.65 CE): Satyricon trans W.C. Firebaugh, complete [Project Gutenberg]
With extensive and expliciit notes.
- Petronius Arbiter (d.65 CE): Satyricon [Project Gutenberg]
Martial (c.40-103 CE): Epigrams trans A.S. Kline [At Poetry in Translation]
- Statius (c.40-c.96 CE): Sylvae Book 2 trans A.S. Kline [At Poetry in Translation]
"Glaucias Atedi Melioris Delicatus ("Glaucias, Melior's Boy Favorite") This is a long poem of consolation for the loss of Melior's lover, Glaucias. The weeping poet describes the funeral and explains the difficulty of the theme; Glaucias' birth, rearing, and death at the hands of the Parcae are recounted. Melior's dead friend, Blaesus, leads the boy to Elysium" [Wikipedia].
-
Juvenal (early 2nd C. CE): Satire II - Against Hypocritical Queens [At The Latin Library. In Latin].
- Juvenal (early 2nd C. CE): Satire II - Against Hypocritical Queens [At this Site]
- Juvenal (early 2nd C. CE): Satire IX [At The Latin Library. In Latin].
On male hustlers, in this case the sex worker of a pathic client.
- Juvenal (early 2nd C. CE): Satire IX trans A.S. Kline [At Poetry in Translation]
- Lucian of Samosota (c.115-189 CE) [writes in Greek]: Toxaris or Friendship 163 CE [At Sacred Texts] [Internet Archive version here]
A dialogue between a Greek and a Scythian about customs of
"philia" (friendship). The text is of major interest
in assessing the play of same-sex "friendship" in the
history of sexuality. While sexual activity is not made the focus, desire for the "friend" is a focal concern.
- Lucian of Samosota (c.115-189 CE) [writes in Greek]: Dialogue of the Courtesans 5 [At Sacred Texts] [Internet Archive version here]
- Lucian of Samosota (c.115-189 CE) [writes in Greek]: Dialogue of the Courtesans 5 [At this Site]
An important discussion of Lesbianism.
- Ps.-Lucian (Lucian c.115-180 CE) [writes in Greek]: The History of Orestes and Pylades
from Amores or Affairs of the Heart [At this Site]
Although there has been a recent emphasis on the age-dissonant
and time-limited nature of Greek homosexual relationships, Orestes
and Pylades were presented as models for reciprocal and lasting
eros.
- Ps-Lucian of Samosota (c.115-189 CE) [writes in Greek]: Charidemus [At Loeb]
A discussion of the nature of beauty - of males.
-
The Priapea [At The Latin Library]
This is the complete Latin text of the Priapea, with vocabulary and notes presented via a view program. You have to download the zipped file, and run it on a Windows computer.
- Wikipedia: Priapeia
-
The Priapea [At plaintext.com] [Internet Archive version here]
A complete English translation, by Ned Tuck (in 1981), of these anonymous first century Latin poems dedicated to the Roman God of the priapus. The site uses Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations, which some might consider rude.
Texts: Historical
- Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE) [writes in Greek]: Histories 6:37 Go here for beginning of text. [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible]
On punishment fro men abused in their persons -"any one who in full manhood is detected in shameful immorality". [ κἄν τις τῶν ἐν ἀκμῇ παραχρησάμενος εὑρεθῇ τῷ σώματι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ὁ τρὶς περὶ τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας ζημιωθείς. ].
- Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE) [writes in Greek]: Histories 37.9 [At Perseus, in English, with Greek text
accessible]
On the issue of men choosing not to marry.
- Cicero (106-43 BCE): Second Philippic Against Anthony 18 [At Perseus, in English, with Latin text
accessible]
-
Cicero (106-43 BCE): Laelius
or on Friendship [At this Site]
- Livy (59 BCE-17 CE): Histories 8: 28 [At this Site]
Livy's account of the homosexual affair in 428 AUC/326 BCE which
led to the abolition of imprisonment for debt in Rome. A creditor
tried to force a debtor to have sex with him and this enraged
the public.
- Plutarch (46-120 CE) [writes in Greek]: On Sulla and Metrobius
the full text of the Life of Sulla also available [At MIT] or here [Project Gutenberg]
-
Plutarch (46-120 CE): Life of Anthony
(complete) [At MIT] or here [Project Gutenberg]
Early sections describe Anthony's early affair with Curio.
- Suetonius (b.c.70-d. after 121 CE): The Lives of the Twelve Caesars [Project Gutenberg]
- Suetonius (b.c.70-d. after 121 CE): Julius Caesar 2, 45-53 [At this Site]
Caesar - every man's woman, and every woman's man!
- Suetonius (b.c.70-d. after 121 CE): Augustus 68-71 [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70-d. after 121 CE): Tiberius 42-45 [At this Site]
Not a nice guy. The old Loeb version kept this in Latin. Not here though!
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Caligula 24-25, 36 [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Nero 27-29. [At this Site]
Includes an account of Nero's two homosexual "marriages".
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Galba 22. [At this Site]
Galba as an older homosexual who prefers other older men.
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Otho 12. [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Vitellius 3-5 [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Titus 2-3, 7 [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Domitian 7-8, 18-22 [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Life of Tibellus [Attrib.] [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Life of Vergil [Attrib.] [At this Site]
- Suetonius (b.c.70 d. after 121 CE): Life of Horace [prob. not by Suetonius.] [At this Site]
- Tacitus (b. 56/57-d.after 117 CE): On Homosexuality
selections from The Annals
- Tacitus (b. 56/57-d.after 117 CE): The Annals
Full Text [At MIT] and here [Wikisource]
- Tacitus (b. 56/57-d.after 117 CE): The Histories, Volumes I and II [Project Gutenberg]
- Didorus Siculus and Plutarch: Battakes and the Plebian Tribune A Gallus before the Senate [Was At Aztriad, now Internet Archive]
- Aelius Lampridius: The Life of Elagabalus Antoninus Loeb version. See also the Latin Text [Was At Heliogabby, now Internet Archive]
Called a "farago of cheap pornography" by Sir Ronald Syme!
- Dio Cassius: Epitome of Book LXXX On Elagabulus, Loeb version [Was At Heliogabby, now Internet Archive]
- Soranus (2nd. C. CE) [wrote in Greek], On Pathics
as summarized in Caelius Aurelianus: On Acute Diseases and
on Chronic Diseases IV.9.131-137 [At this Site]
Vern Bullough thought this passage a counter to the apparent proliferation
of homosexuality in other literature since it seeks to counter
doubts that "passive" homosexuals exist. Its interest
is much wider, as Soranus presents his opinion that passive homosexuality,
and lesbianism, is a "disease of the mind" and hereditary.
Websites:
Back to Contents
NOTES
People with a History: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* History Sourcebook is part of the Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Date of inception was 1997. People with a History is a www site presenting
history relevant to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people, through primary
sources, secondary discussions, and images. Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location]. WEB indicates a link to one of small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable overview.
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 5 June 2023 [CV]
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