Details

<p>List of Illustrations ix</p> <p>Preface xi</p> <p><b>Part I Roman Vice 1</b></p> <p><b>1 Introduction 3</b></p> <p><b>2 Naked Bodies 7</b></p> <p>An Introduction (less than successful) to the Naked Body 7</p> <p>The Naked Body in Greece 14</p> <p>Naked Romans 21</p> <p>The Love of Art and the Art of Love 28</p> <p><b>3 Obscene Texts 34</b></p> <p>Illustrating the Unspeakable 34</p> <p>Talking Dirty 40</p> <p><b>4 Erotic Rites 48</b></p> <p>The Myth of the Orgy 48</p> <p>Locating the Erotic in Roman Religion 55</p> <p><b>5 Imperial Biography 65</b></p> <p>The Private Lives of the Caesars 65</p> <p>Explaining Roman Gossip Culture 79</p> <p><b>Part II Greek Love 89</b></p> <p><b>6 Introduction 91</b></p> <p>What is 'Greek Love'? Scenes from a Courtroom I 92</p> <p><b>7 Greece 97</b></p> <p>The Loves of Hellas 97</p> <p>The Platonic Vision 99</p> <p><b>8 Rome and the West 109</b></p> <p>Greece under Rome and Rome under Greece 109</p> <p>Greek Love Burns Briefly, but Brightly 119</p> <p><b>9 Renaissance and Enlightenment 124</b></p> <p>Giving Birth in the Beautiful 124</p> <p>The Pursuit of Love 135</p> <p><b>10 Nineteenth Century and Beyond 143</b></p> <p>Greek Love Triumphant 143</p> <p>Sapphic Love 149</p> <p>A Mixed Legacy: Greek Love in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries 159</p> <p><b>11 Epilogue 164</b></p> <p>Scenes from a Courtroom II 164</p> <p>Notes and Further Reading 166</p> <p>Bibliography 190</p> <p>Index 205</p>

<b>Alastair J. L. Blanshard</b> is a senior lecturer in Classics & Ancient History at the University of Sydney. He is the author of <i>Hercules: A Heroic Life</i> (2005).

With startling clarity, the classical world is invoked both as the home of sexual freedom and a haven for wanton acts of sexual perversity. <i>Sex: Vice and Love from Antiquity to Modernity</i> examines the profound impact that sexual fantasies about the classical world have had on modern Western culture, and looks at the ways in which various cultures have used classical erotica to locate and articulate their own erotic discourse. In this provocative new study, Alastair Blanshard offers rich insights how our perceptions of vice and love in antiquity continue to shape the roles of sex and sexuality in modern culture.

GB