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Among Women: From the Homosocial to the Homoerotic in the Ancient World
"This book is the most thorough account of female homoerotic materials from the ancient Mediterranean I have yet seen in English.... I can easily see it becoming a standard work on ancient female homoeroticism."
--John S. Rundin, Assistant Professor of Classics, University of Texas at San Antonio
Women's and men's worlds were largely separate in ancient Mediterranean societies, and, in consequence, many women's deepest personal relationships were with other women. Yet relatively little scholarly or popular attention has focused on women's relationships in antiquity, in contrast to recent interest in the relationships between men in ancient Greece and Rome. The essays in this book seek to close this gap by exploring a wide variety of textual and archaeological evidence for women's homosocial and homoerotic relationships from prehistoric Greece to fifth-century CE Egypt.
Drawing on developments in feminist theory, gay and lesbian studies, and queer theory, as well as traditional textual and art historical methods, the contributors to this volume examine representations of women's lives with other women, their friendships, and sexual subjectivity. They present new interpretations of the evidence offered by the literary works of Sappho, Ovid, and Lucian; Bronze Age frescoes and Greek vase painting, funerary reliefs, and other artistic representations; and Egyptian legal documents.
--John S. Rundin, Assistant Professor of Classics, University of Texas at San Antonio
Women's and men's worlds were largely separate in ancient Mediterranean societies, and, in consequence, many women's deepest personal relationships were with other women. Yet relatively little scholarly or popular attention has focused on women's relationships in antiquity, in contrast to recent interest in the relationships between men in ancient Greece and Rome. The essays in this book seek to close this gap by exploring a wide variety of textual and archaeological evidence for women's homosocial and homoerotic relationships from prehistoric Greece to fifth-century CE Egypt.
Drawing on developments in feminist theory, gay and lesbian studies, and queer theory, as well as traditional textual and art historical methods, the contributors to this volume examine representations of women's lives with other women, their friendships, and sexual subjectivity. They present new interpretations of the evidence offered by the literary works of Sappho, Ovid, and Lucian; Bronze Age frescoes and Greek vase painting, funerary reliefs, and other artistic representations; and Egyptian legal documents.
407 pages, Hardcover
First published December 19, 2001
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About the author
Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz
12 books2 followersNancy S. Rabinowitz is a Professor of Comparative Literature at Hamilton College.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 18, 2016
as a lesbian and a student of ancient history i would 100% recommend this book (which is one of the very few i've seen that are entirely dedicated to homoerotic relations between women in the ancient world).
January 11, 2015
A fascinating inter-disciplinary look at a broad range of homosocial contexts with an openness to identifying erotic possibilities within them. The papers cover art, literature, architecture, memorial imagery and inscriptions, and more. Due to the broad range of disciplines, the authors seem to have taken care to provide context for non-specialists, making this quite accessible to the lay reader.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews