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How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality (Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers) Hardcover – June 4, 2024
An irresistible anthology of ancient Greek writings that explore queer desire and love
Eros, limb-loosening, whirls me about again,
that bittersweet, implacable creature.
—Sappho
The idea of sexual fluidity may seem new, but it is at least as old as the ancient Greeks, who wrote about queer experiences with remarkable frankness, wit, and insight. How to Be Queer is an infatuating collection of these writings about desire, love, and lust between men, between women, and between humans and gods, in lucid and lively new translations. Filled with enthralling stories, this anthology invites readers of all sexualities and identities to explore writings that describe many kinds of erotic encounters and feelings, and that envision a playful and passionate approach to sexuality as part of a rich and fulfilling life.
How to Be Queer starts with Homer’s Iliad and moves through lyric poetry, tragedy, comedy, philosophy, and biography, drawing on a wide range of authors, including Sappho, Plato, Anacreon, Pindar, Theognis, Aristophanes, and Xenophon. It features both beautiful poetry and thought-provoking prose, emotional outpourings and humorous anecdotes. From Homer’s story of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, one of the most intense between men in world literature, to Sappho’s lyrics on the pleasures and pains of loving women, these writings show the many meanings of what the Greeks called eros.
Complete with brief introductions to the selections, and with the original Greek on facing pages, How to Be Queer reveals what the Greeks knew long ago—that the erotic and queer are a source of life and a cause for celebration.
- Print length264 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPrinceton University Press
- Publication dateJune 4, 2024
- Dimensions4.6 x 1 x 6.7 inches
- ISBN-100691248613
- ISBN-13978-0691248615
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“This valuable and timely collection provides an engaging and approachable introduction to queer sexuality in ancient Greece. With accessible translations of the key texts, Sarah Nooter bridges past and present to offer up something like a self-help version of classical texts for modern sexual life. Timely and compelling, How to Be Queer demonstrates the historical rootedness of what’s often touted as a modern phenomenon.”—Emily Hauser, author of How Women Became Poets: A Gender History of Greek Literature
“Sarah Nooter’s How to Be Queer is a magnificent celebration of queer love and sexuality in all its complicated, wondrous forms. It also acts as a kind of time and ideas machine, allowing queer readers to capture a reflection of themselves in the ancient world, deliciously blurring and loosening time and identity boundaries.”—Luke Edward Hall, illustrator of 300,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Princeton University Press (June 4, 2024)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 264 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0691248613
- ISBN-13 : 978-0691248615
- Item Weight : 11.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 4.6 x 1 x 6.7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #636,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #527 in Social Philosophy
- #1,101 in Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy
- #2,006 in Sex & Sexuality
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