
Eros
The Myth Of Ancient Greek Sexuality
Bruce S. Thornton(Author)
Westview Press Inc
1st Edition
Published on 13. February 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
300 pages
978-0-8133-3226-0 (ISBN)
Description
Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality is a controversial book that lays bare the meanings Greeks gave to sex. Contrary to the romantic idealization of sex dominating our culture, the Greeks saw eros as a powerful force of nature, potentially dangerous and in need of control by society: Eros the Destroyer, not Cupid the Insipid, is what fired the Greek imagination. The destructiveness of eros can be seen in Greek imagery and metaphor, and in their attitudes toward women and homosexuals. Images of love as fire, disease, storms, insanity, and violence-top 40 song cliches for us-locate eros among the unpredictable and deadly forces of nature. The beautiful Aphrodite embodies the alluring danger of sex, and femmes fatales like Pandora and Helen represent the risky charms of female sexuality. And homosexuality typifies for the Greeks the frightening power of an indiscriminate appetite that threatens the stability of culture itself. In Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Seualily, Bruce Thornton offers a uniquely sweeping and comprehensive account of ancient sexuality free of currently fashionable theoretical jargon and pretensions. In its conclusions the book challenges the distortions of much recent scholarship on Greek sexuality. And throughout it links the wary attitudes of the Greeks to our present-day concerns about love, sex, and family. What we see, finally, are the origins of some of our own views as well as a vision of sexuality that is perhaps more honest and mature than our own dangerous illusions.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United States
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Inc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
443 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8133-3226-0 (9780813332260)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
08/2019
1st Edition
Routledge
€206.80
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
02/2018
1st Edition
Routledge
€73.99
Available for download

E-Book
02/2018
1st Edition
Routledge
€73.99
Available for download
Person
Bruce S. Thornton is professor of classics and chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages at California State University at Fresno.
Content
Preface -- A Note on Translation -- Introduction: "Custom the King of All" -- The "Controlless Core" -- The "Tyrant of Gods and Men" -- The Golden Child of the Bloody Foam -- Pandora's "Foul Tribe of Women" -- Monsters of Appetite -- The "Fancied Sway" -- Taming the Beasts -- Erotic Technology -- Wives and the Order of the House -- Eros the Pedagogue -- Conclusion: Dissing Eros and Aphrodite -- Abbreviations