Cantarella Eva. Bisexuality in the Ancient World

Yale University Press, 2002. — 286 p.In this readable and thought-provoking history of bisexuality in the classical age, Eva Cantarella draws on the full range of sources—from legal texts, inscriptions, and medical documents to poetry and philosophical literature—to reconstruct and compare the bisexual cultures of Athens and Rome. Cantarella presents the ancient evidence in a straightforward fashion, draws insightful comparisons between heterosexuality and homosexuality, and elucidates the larger cultural context of erotic experience. With its wide scope the book speaks to the classicist, the layman with an interest in antiquity, the student of sexuality, and even to the unabashed seeker of piquant anecdotes. An important study that is destined to take its place next to the classic works of Foucault and Pomeroy. Offers a valuable, close-in reassessment of intricate evidence, freshly researched, readable, and open-minded.