Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality

by Bruce S. Thornton

Book Overview

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, fired the Greek imagination.The destructiveness of eros can be seen in Greek imagery and metaphor, and in the Greeks'...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813332257
• ISBN13: 9780813332253
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Worthwhile

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 evaluate

Understanding Greeks

Dr. Thornton's views are from a "Greek" perspective and his conclusions can't be judged by modern standards of love and romance. The discussion of Odysseus and Penelope's relationship is very enlightening. It is perhaps the best discussion of marriage in the ideal sense that I have ever read. As a matter of fact, it is an inspiration. I re-read my Homer. Waiting for Odysseus

A Sane and Much Needed Perspective

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 m

Superb and daring

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!

Antidote to cant

The Kirkus review of this book does indeed demonstrate the cheap moral superiority of our smug twentieth century.If you are tired of the feminist orthodoxy cant that passes for "thought," read this book.