Eros: The Myth Of Ancient Greek Sexuality by Bruce S. Thornton (English) Paperba

Description: Eros by Bruce S. Thornton This book offers a comprehensive account of ancient Greek sexuality free of currently fashionable theoretical jargon and pretensions. It is about what the literary remains from 700–100 b.c. say about sex, for it is those remains that most influenced subsequent Western culture. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher 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, fired the Greek imagination. The destructiveness of eros can be seen in Greek imagery and metaphor, and in the Greeks 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, while 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 Sexuality, Bruce Thornton offers a uniquely sweeping and comprehensive account of ancient sexuality free of currently fashionable theoretical jargon and pretentions. 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. Author Biography Bruce S. Thornton is professor of classics and chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages at California State University at Fresno. Table of Contents 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 -- Pandoras "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 Kirkus US Review A potentially interesting study of ancient Greek sexuality sinks in the rough seas of antifeminist diatribe. At first Thornton (Classics/Calif. State Univ., Fresno) is merely pedantic, offering a welter of examples to support his point that the Greeks believed eros, or sexual desire, was a powerful, dangerous force of nature. He becomes almost interesting in noting that our sentimental "dead metaphors" of love as fire, disease, and insanity originated in vivid Greek images (and fears) of the destructive power of eros. However, once Thornton starts trying to show that Greek hatred of women was an expression of a legitimate fear of eros, he reveals himself to be less an objective scholar than an apologist for Greek misogyny. He snipes at the "cheap moral superiority" of "our smug twentieth century" in refusing to recognize that "the power of women was the power of eros." His arguments would be offensive were they not so silly: In proposing Marilyn Monroe as the image of the "sexually powerful woman" in opposition to the models in Victorias Secret catalogs with their "boyish hips," he seems to be elevating a personal preference into an intellectual analysis of sexual imagery in the late 20th century. After similarly confused explorations of Greek marriage, homosexuality, and philosophy, Thornton concludes that the Greeks were wiser than we in distrusting eros and trying to control it through such rational institutions as patriarchy. With a breathtaking lack of supporting material, he asserts that our deviation from their ideas about sex is responsible for contemporary "illegitimacy . . . crime, random violence, poverty, and social barbarism." This book loses sight of its valid points in a fumbling attempt to imitate the contrarian Camille Paglia (whom Thornton cites as a "model"). And when he fingers eros as the true culprit in Susan Smiths drowning of her two children, he leaves the reader wondering whether he, and his Greeks, are incapable of attributing to women other passions (e.g., maternal) than sexual ones. (Kirkus Reviews) Long 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, fired the Greek imagination.The destructiveness of eros can be seen in Greek imagery and metaphor, and in the Greeks attitudes toward women and homosexuals. Images of love as fire, disease, storms, insanity, and violence--Top 40 song clichs for us--locate eros among the unpredictable and deadly forces of nature. The beautiful Aphrodite embodies the alluring danger of sex, while 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 Sexuality, Bruce Thornton offers a uniquely sweeping and comprehensive account of ancient sexuality free of currently fashionable theoretical jargon and pretentions. 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. Details ISBN0813332265 Author Bruce S. Thornton Language English ISBN-10 0813332265 ISBN-13 9780813332260 Media Book Format Paperback Year 1998 Imprint Westview Press Inc Place of Publication Boulder, CO Country of Publication United States Illustrations biblio, index Residence Fresno, CA, US Affiliation California State University, Fresno Short Title EROS REV/E Edition Description Revised DOI 10.1604/9780813332260 UK Release Date 1998-02-13 AU Release Date 1998-02-13 NZ Release Date 1998-02-13 US Release Date 1998-02-13 Subtitle The Myth Of Ancient Greek Sexuality Pages 300 Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc Publication Date 1998-02-13 Alternative 9780367315511 DEWEY 306.70938 Audience Undergraduate We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:139847701;

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