Review by Choice Review
Garrison, an expert in Hellenistic Greek and Latin poetry, offers a well-illustrated study of the erotic in ancient Greek culture, including aspects of sexual cultures of pre-Greek civilizations, Bronze Age, Archaic and Classical Greece, the Hellenistic World, and the Later Roman Empire. While his book is well illustrated and clearly written, with often-acute interpretations of literary sources and persuasive arguments, Garrison's account is at times idiosyncratic, superficial, or flawed by limited expertise outside his own specialties. Several members of this series' advisory board who are experts on gender and sexuality in antiquity might have improved the book considerably had they critiqued it. For classical Greece, the writings of David Cohen and the recent book by James Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes (1998), undercut some of Garrison's arguments, though he handles very well the gulf in attitudes toward the erotic between Hellenistic literature (especially New Comedy) and Hellenistic philosophy. The last chapter, on Christianity's acceptance of the anti-erotic position of Greek philosophers, is peripheral to the topic, weak in research, and selective in evidence. In a book on the sexual culture of ancient Greece, Garrison overwhelmingly cites Latin Christian authors; his bibliography here is meager. Though Garrison's prose flows well and the topic is intriguing, this is a book best read critically. J. M. Williams SUNY College at Geneseo
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
