Gender and Sexuality in Greece and Rome

This subject examines gender and sexuality in the classical world. Students will engage with ancient primary texts in translation (including texts authored by women) and material culture in order to say anything definite about the ‘real’ lives of women in Greece and Rome. The subject also explores how ancient men expressed their ideology about femininity and masculinity through their literature and art. Topics include representations of gender and sexual desire in Homer, Sappho, Greek drama, Hellenistic poetry, Roman poetry, and the lives of early Christian female saints; gendered spaces in ancient domestic architecture and material culture; the prosopography of elite Roman women; the social and legal history of marriage, adultery, divorce, and prostitution in Greece and Rome; and same-sex relationships, including Greek pederasty, and debates on whether same-sex marriage existed in imperial Rome and medieval Europe. Students should complete the subject with an understanding of the complex approaches to a ‘history of women’ and a ‘history of sexuality’ in an ancient context.

探讨古希腊罗马社会中的性别与性观念。

• 1Reflect on the culture and social history of classical Greece and Rome through the lens of gender and sexuality
• 2Evaluate core primary texts from the ancient world, including literary classics and well-known archaeological sites
• 3Explain modern theoretical approaches to the study of ancient gender and sexuality
• 4Analyze how concepts and norms related to gender and sexuality in classical Greece and Rome intersected with other social categories and power structures, such as class, ethnicity, and status, shaping the lived experiences and representations of different groups.