Abstract
This book brings together in a convenient package a variety of stimulating work by an impressive array of scholars interested in ancient sexuality and gender. Topics covered in the book vary in time and place from Archaic Greece to Medieval Europe, in field from Art History and Anthropology to Literature and Philosophy, and in form from prose poetry to painstaking scholarly exposition. Some critics may say that this volume represents just another ill-defined collection of warmed-over talks and essays; that it tries to plug one more new life-support line into the tired body of 1970s French theory; and that it is written only for like-minded professional scholars and will seem impenetrable and dull to the average person inter? ested in Classical Antiquity. But these critics will not score on this new volume. Though the overall conception ofthe collection presents some problems of clarity, and some contributions seem to me stronger than others, the book will nonetheless provide engaging reading for scholars interested in the intellectual and social history of antiquity. Though it is unlikely that this volume will reach the hands ofthe general public, indi? vidual essays will be useful for undergraduate courses in a variety of fields.
Document Type
Book Review
Publication Date
2000
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2000 University of Texas Press. This article first appeared in Journal of the History of Sexuality 9:4 (2000), 524-527.
Please note that downloads of the article are for private/personal use only.
Recommended Citation
Stevenson, Walter. Review of Constructions of the Classical Body, by James Porter. Journal of the History of Sexuality 9, no. 4 (2000): 524-27.