Sexual life in ancient Greece

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This companion volume to characterizes the difference between Greek and Roman sexual practices this way: "The inmost nature of the Greeks is naked sensuality, which, indeed, rarely become brutality<-->as in the case of the Romans.." Licht, who taught at Leipzig University between the two World Wars, explains that Greek love, an exultant creed of sensuality, was of three major kinds: women for men, men for women, and men for boys. Even in the latter kind of love, the gods mimicked their creators. Heracles, for example, was a noted voluptuary (as well as an ascetic hero) with 14 boy-lovers. Sex and class were said to be as intertwined as men and boys in a statement by Heracleides Ponticus, a philosopher-student of Plato, who affirmed that voluptuousness is a right reserved for the governing classes, toil the condition of slaves and the poor. Subject areas include marriage and the life of women, the human figure, festivals, the theater, religion, erotic literature, masturbation, lesbianism, prostitution, male homosexuality, and perversions. The index is extensive. Distributed by Columbia U. Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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Examines the influence of sexuality on human creativity, discussing the role of women, attitudes toward the human body, more.