Volume 56, Number 14 · September 24, 2009
Men and Boys
By G.W. Bowersock
The Greeks and Greek Love: A Bold New Exploration of the Ancient World
by James Davidson
Random House, 789 pp., $45.00
Images of Ancient Greek Pederasty: Boys Were Their Gods
by Andrew Lear and Eva Cantarella
Routledge, 262 pp., $41.95
From antiquity to the present, nothing has given admirers of the Greeks so much embarrassment and caused so much downright revulsion as the widespread Greek practice of men making love to young boys. We owe the word 'pederasty' for this activity to Greek pais for boy and erastês for lover.
Review, 4016 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |