Sex in Antiquity

"A bold and far-reaching collection of articles from some of the most perceptive and influential scholars in the field. This volume embraces the recent re-examination of gender as a critical category of meaning when thinking about sexual behaviors and the culturally produced meanings of sex; as such this book should significantly broaden the field of inquiry concerning ancient sexuality, while sharpening the theoretical positions that inform current debates."

Kirk Ormand, Oberlin College, USA

"Sex in Antiquity appears at a timely moment. This monumental collection of original essays marks the close of a retrospective period and the emergence of exciting new lines of enquiry. It makes two decisive contributions: first, by broadening the established range of the field to include work on the Near Eastern and Judaic sex/gender systems; second, by questioning supposedly settled conclusions on numerous topics, including female desire, impotence, male passivity, pederastic relations, prostitution, queerness, and rape. Its publication will undoubtedly create a second wave of enthusiasm for studying ancient gender and sexuality."

Marilyn B. Skinner, University of Arizona, USA

"[T]he editors of and contributors to this volume offer insightful and sometimes unexpected conversations that take place between current and past scholarship, and provide opportunities to explore the trajectories that scholarship on sex, sexuality, and gender in antiquity might now take... Overall, [the volume] offers thoughtful reflections on how current scholarship on gender and sexuality in antiquity got to where it is today and provides new avenues of inquiry."

F. Mira Green, University of Washington, USA, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"This volume is absolutely superb: from cover to cover, 30 chapters and an introduction, it is a tour de force ... The contributions are informative, insightful, articulate and well researched ... the book is an impressive and important work and a necessary read for scholars of the ancient world and sexuality studies."

Darlene M. Juschka, University of Regina, Canada, The Classical Review

"The broad range of chapters investigates important historical and societal issues in ancient Near East, the Greek world, and the Roman world, such as prostitution, assault, rape and war, and pederasty. We also learn about a bizarre range of subjects – such as debatable cases of reproductive magic in the Hebrew Bible; the use of flour in Mesopotamian midwifery; the language of unmanliness in Latin; the Christian martyr Perpetua, and much much more."

Lucia Marchini, Minerva November/December 2018