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Сексуальная жизнь в Древней Греции
В книге исследуется мораль, нравственные принципы и взаимоотношения полов в Древней Греции. На основании сведений многочисленных авторов воссоздается общая картина жизни древних греков — философия и искусство, брачные обряды и семейные устои, участие в атлетических состязаниях, праздниках, театральных представлениях, конкурсах красоты. Подробно описываются религиозные обряды, суеверия, магические заклинания и другие проявления культуры эллинов.
430 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1925
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 5, 2011
I used to work for the Ares Press and functioned as an editor of their vetted journal, The Ancient World. The company moved to Golden, Colorado, ending my connection with it, but has recently returned to the Chicago area. I have begun writing book reviews for the journal again. In preparation for this I've started reading books of ancient history again, starting with this one, Sexual Life in Ancient Greece, by "Hans Licht" (actually, Professor Paul Brandt).
If you're looking for something salacious or arousing, this isn't it. Written in the early thirties, the author is careful about what he includes, occasionally switching into the Greek or Latin, even referring to medical texts for further information. Or, just perhaps, the ancient Greeks weren't to modern tastes. I certainly found nothing in this dry compendium erotically stimulating.
The scope of the book is from Homer to the late Hellenistic with some Latin writers thrown in when the author thinks their testimony relevant. The area covered is not so much Greece as the Greek-speaking and -writing worlds of the period.
Brandt knows his stuff. One gets the impression that he'd read all the classics (still a doable task--given a few years) and sat in a book-lined study, occasionally checking references, but mostly working from memory. The notes are good.
There is an agenda here. Brandt wasn't too happy with the Christians, particularly his (probably fellow) Protestants, repressing the Greek aesthetic and pedagogical ideal. And that, like Jaeger's Paideia, is what his focus is--what we moderns refer to as Platonic love. There is actually very little about perversions in this book, the author asserting that the Greeks, comfortable with bisexuality in particular and with eroticism in general, didn't have cause to practice them to any appreciable extent.
Finally, a caveat: This book is not only dry and scholarly, but it is basically just organized lists with (usually) short quotations. There is very little analysis or reflection. For a more sociological approach look into E. Canterella.
If you're looking for something salacious or arousing, this isn't it. Written in the early thirties, the author is careful about what he includes, occasionally switching into the Greek or Latin, even referring to medical texts for further information. Or, just perhaps, the ancient Greeks weren't to modern tastes. I certainly found nothing in this dry compendium erotically stimulating.
The scope of the book is from Homer to the late Hellenistic with some Latin writers thrown in when the author thinks their testimony relevant. The area covered is not so much Greece as the Greek-speaking and -writing worlds of the period.
Brandt knows his stuff. One gets the impression that he'd read all the classics (still a doable task--given a few years) and sat in a book-lined study, occasionally checking references, but mostly working from memory. The notes are good.
There is an agenda here. Brandt wasn't too happy with the Christians, particularly his (probably fellow) Protestants, repressing the Greek aesthetic and pedagogical ideal. And that, like Jaeger's Paideia, is what his focus is--what we moderns refer to as Platonic love. There is actually very little about perversions in this book, the author asserting that the Greeks, comfortable with bisexuality in particular and with eroticism in general, didn't have cause to practice them to any appreciable extent.
Finally, a caveat: This book is not only dry and scholarly, but it is basically just organized lists with (usually) short quotations. There is very little analysis or reflection. For a more sociological approach look into E. Canterella.
July 9, 2022
Εξαιρετικό πόνημα από κάθε άποψη. Το έγραψε με ψευδώνυμο (γιατί άραγε ; ) ο μεγαλύτερος μελετητής της ζωής των αρχαίων Ελλήνων. Εκτεταμένη τεκμηρίωση και πληρέστατη κάλυψη όλων των θεμάτων. Παραθέτει επίσης και την πλήρη μορφή των Ομηρικών Επών και με τα χωρία που έχουν αποκρυβεί από τα σχολικά εγχειρίδια όλα αυτά τα χρόνια. Γενικά παραθέτει μεγάλο πλούτο παραδειγμάτων και περιστατικών που αποδεικνύουν έναν κόσμο με τα πιστεύω και τις δοξασίες του που απλά δεν γνωρίζουμε. Το βιβλίο κλείνει με τη δήλωση του συγγραφέα που παραθέτω αυτολεξεί και που νομίζω νοηματοδοτεί όλο το βιβλίο : Όποιος μπορεί να αποδεσμευτεί από τις σύγχρονες αντιλήψεις και να συναισθανθεί τον αρχαίο ελληνικό τρόπο σκέψης, θα κατανοήσει την υψηλή ηθική των Ελλήνων, της οποίας το ανώτερο αξίωμα εκφραζόταν στο καλός καγαθός, "ωραίος σε σώμα και ψυχή".
December 30, 2012
Using literary, historical and artistic evidence, Licht presents a detailed picture of sexual life in Ancient Greece.
He reviews marriage and the life of women, the human figure, festivals, theatre, dances, games and meals, religion and the erotic, greek literature, prostitution and the services provided by the Hetairaea and the position of male homosexuality in Greek life.
He reviews marriage and the life of women, the human figure, festivals, theatre, dances, games and meals, religion and the erotic, greek literature, prostitution and the services provided by the Hetairaea and the position of male homosexuality in Greek life.
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November 19, 2019Книга на интересную тему с хорошей подборкой фактов, которую мне оказалось совсем невозможно читать из-за дремучего сексизма автора (женщине стоит заниматься лишь домашним хозяйством, не быть умнее мужчин, не вступать в их разговор, ах, в языке древних греков не было слов «флирт» и «кокетство»!). А так как речь идёт о сексуальности, пусть и древнегреческой, то терпеть эти фрагменты, стиснув зубы, не выйдет из-за их обилия.
June 18, 2025
Skimmed through various points without any rhyme of reason; it’s not something I would want to read again.
The basis in primary sources was good though along with some of the more taboo ideas. But again, I don’t feel like the points were analyzed that well in order to correspond to modernity or to deeper concepts of the past.
The basis in primary sources was good though along with some of the more taboo ideas. But again, I don’t feel like the points were analyzed that well in order to correspond to modernity or to deeper concepts of the past.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews