Erotica in ancient Greece
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| ==Literature== | ==Literature== | ||
| :''[[Lysistrata]]'' | :''[[Lysistrata]]'' | ||
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| + | '''''Lysistrata''''' loosely translated to "she who disbands armies", is an [[anti-war]] [[Greek comedy]], written in [[411 BCE]] by [[Aristophanes]]. A group of women go on a [[sex strike]] as long as their husbands persist in going to war, thus the play is also an allegory of the [[war of the sexes]]. It was most famously illustrated by the British illustrator [[Aubrey Beardsley]]. | ||
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Revision as of 14:17, 15 September 2009
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- ancient erotica
- Homosexuality in ancient Greece, erotica, Greece, pederasty, Sotadic zone, male prostitution in the arts
The ancient Greeks often painted sexual scenes on their ceramics, many of them famous for being some of the earliest depictions of same-sex relations and pederasty. Greek art often portrays sexual activity, but it is impossible to distinguish between what to them was illegal or immoral since the ancient Greeks did not have a concept of pornography. Their art simply reflects scenes from daily life, some more sexual than others. Carved phalli can be seen in places of worship such as the temple of Dionysus on Delos, while a common household item and protective charm was the herm, a statue consisting of a head on a square plinth with a prominent phallus on the front. The Greek male ideal had a small penis, an aesthetic the Romans later adopted. The Greeks also created the first well-known instance of lesbian eroticism in the West, with Sappho's Hymn to Aphrodite and other homoerotic works.
Literature
Lysistrata loosely translated to "she who disbands armies", is an anti-war Greek comedy, written in 411 BCE by Aristophanes. A group of women go on a sex strike as long as their husbands persist in going to war, thus the play is also an allegory of the war of the sexes. It was most famously illustrated by the British illustrator Aubrey Beardsley.
