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Same-Sex Unions In Pre-Modern Europe
''Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe'' (UK title: ''The Marriage of Likeness: Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe'') is a historical study written by the American historian John Boswell and first published by Villard Books in 1994. Then a professor at Yale University, Boswell was a specialist on homosexuality in Christian Europe, having previously authored three books on the subject. It proved to be his final publication, released in the same year as his death. Boswell's primary argument is that throughout much of medieval Christian Europe, unions between figures of the same sex and gender were socially accepted. Outlining the problems with accurately translating Ancient Greek and Latin terms regarding love, relationships, and unions into English, he discusses the wider context of marriage and unions in the classical world and early Christian Europe. The book attracted widespread academic and popular attention on publication. Reviews in academic, peer-reviewed journals were mix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serge And Bacchus
Sergius (or Serge) and Bacchus (Greek language, Greek: Σέργιος & Βάκχος; ; , also called ) were fourth-century Roman Syria, Syrian Christians, Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints by the Catholic Church, Catholic, Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodox Churches. Their feast day is 7 October. According to their hagiography, Sergius and Bacchus were military officers in the army of the Roman Emperor Galerius and were held high in his favor until they were exposed as secret Christians. They were then severely humiliated and punished, forced to wear both feminine and commoner garments, with Bacchus dying during torture to his feet, and Sergius eventually decapitated. Sergius and Bacchus were very popular throughout Late Antiquity for their fraternal and pious relationship, and churches in their honor were built in several cities, including Constantinople and Rome. The close friendship between the two is strongly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygamy
Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at the same time, it is called polyandry. In sociobiology and zoology, researchers use ''polygamy'' in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating. In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties. Like "monogamy", the term "polygamy" is often used in a ''de facto'' sense, applied regardless of whether a State (polity), state recognizes the relationship.For the extent to which states can and do recognize potentially and actual polygamous forms as valid, see Conflict of marriage laws. In many countries, the law only recognises monogamous marriages (a person can only have one spouse, and bigamy is illegal), but adultery is not illegal, leading to a situation of ''de facto'' polygamy being allo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In these poems he satirises city life and the scandalous activities of his acquaintances, and romanticises his provincial upbringing. He wrote a total of 1,561 epigrams, of which 1,235 are in elegiac couplets. Martial has been called the greatest Latin epigrammatist, and is considered the creator of the modern epigram. He also coined the term plagiarism. Early life Knowledge of his origins and early life are derived almost entirely from his works, which can be more or less dated according to the well-known events to which they refer. In Book X of his ''Epigrams'', composed between 95 and 98, he mentions celebrating his fifty-sevent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sporus
Sporus (died 69 AD) was a young slave boy whom the Roman emperor Nero had castrated and married during his tour of Greece in 66–67 AD, allegedly in order for him to play the role of his wife, Poppaea Sabina, who had died under uncertain circumstances the previous year, possibly during childbirth or after being assaulted by Nero.Champlin, 2005, p. 145Smith, 1849, p. 897 Ancient historians generally portrayed the relationship between Nero and Sporus as an "abomination"; Suetonius places his account of the Nero–Sporus relationship in his "scandalous accounts of Nero's sexual aberrations," between his raping a Vestal Virgin and committing incest with his mother. Some think Nero used his marriage to Sporus to assuage the guilt he felt for allegedly kicking his pregnant wife Poppaea to death.Champlin, 2005, pp. 108–109 Dio Cassius, in a more detailed account, writes that Sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to Poppaea and that Nero called Sporus by her name. Name Scholars ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of Nero), Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger (great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus). Nero was three when his father died. By the time Nero turned eleven, his mother married Emperor Claudius, who then Adoption in ancient Rome, adopted Nero as his heir. Upon Claudius' death in AD 54, Nero ascended to the throne with the backing of the Praetorian Guard and the Senate. In the early years of his reign, Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger, and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, but sought to rule independently and rid himself of restraining influences. The power ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephesian Tale
The ''Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes'' (, ''Ephesiaka''; also Τὰ κατὰ Ἀνθίαν καὶ Ἁβροκόμην, ''Ta kata Anthian kai Habrokomēn'') by Xenophon of Ephesus is an Ancient Greek novel written before the late 2nd century AD, though in 1996 James O’Sullivan argued the date should actually be seen as closer to 50 AD. Translator Graham Anderson sees the ''Ephesiaca'' as "a specimen of penny dreadful literature in antiquity." Moses Hadas, an earlier translator, takes a slightly different view: "If ''An Ephesian Tale'' is an absorbing tale of love and improbable adventure, it is also a tract to prove that Diana of the Ephesians (who was equated with Isis) cares for her loyal devotees." Because of its shortness and other factors, some scholars maintain that the version we have is merely an epitome of a longer work. The ''Suda,'' a 10th-century Medieval Greek historical encyclopedia, describes the novel as having ten books when the version we have is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xenophon Of Ephesus
Xenophon of Ephesus (Greek: Ξενοφῶν ὁ Εφέσιος; fl. 2nd century – 3rd century AD) was a Greek writer. His surviving work is the '' Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes'', otherwise known as the ''Ephesiaka'' one of the earliest novels as well as one of the sources for Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet''. Xenophon was a critic of the philosophy of Stoicism, as reflected in the Ephesiaka. Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes The Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes tells the tale of Anthia and Habrocomes, two teenage protagonists living in the city of Ephesus, who fall in love at a festival for Artemis. Unable to confess their love to each other, the two enter a depressive state, until their families, after consulting an oracle who tells them of a troublesome future, arrange for their marriage and for them to be sent to Egypt for their safety. During their journey, the pair are kidnapped by a band of pirates, with members who fall in love with the pair, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satyricon
The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius in the late 1st century AD, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petronius. The ''Satyricon'' is an example of Menippean satire, which is different from the formal verse satire of Juvenal or Horace. The work contains a mixture of prose and verse (commonly known as ); serious and comic elements; and erotic and decadent passages. As with ''The Golden Ass'' by Apuleius (also called the ''Metamorphoses''), classical scholars often describe it as a Roman novel, without necessarily implying continuity with the modern literary form. The surviving sections of the original (much longer) text detail the bizarre exploits of the narrator, Encolpius, and his (possible) slave and catamite Giton, a handsome sixteen-year-old boy. It is the second most fully preserved Roman novel, after the fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter" Britannica.com. (; ; ; sometimes Titus Petronius Niger) was a Roman Empire, Roman courtier during the reign of Nero (). He is generally believed to be the author of the ''Satyricon'', a satire, satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian era. He is one of the most important characters in Henryk Sienkiewicz' historical novel ''Quo Vadis (novel), Quo Vadis'' (1895). Leo Genn portrays him in Quo Vadis (1951 film), the 1951 film of the same name. Life A reference to Petronius by Sidonius Apollinaris places him, or his ''Satyricon'', in Massalia (ancient Marseille). He might have been born and educated there. Tacitus, Plutarch and Pliny the Elder describe Petronius as the ''elegantiae arbiter'' (also phrased '' ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome, Romans. Written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, the ''Aeneid'' comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed. The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the ''Iliad''. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Ancient Rome, Rome and his description as a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous ''pietas'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the ''Eclogues'' (or ''Bucolics''), the ''Georgics'', and the Epic poetry, epic ''Aeneid''. A number of minor poems, collected in the ''Appendix Vergiliana'', were attributed to him in ancient times, but modern scholars generally regard these works as spurious, with the possible exception of a few short pieces. Already acclaimed in his own lifetime as a classic author, Virgil rapidly replaced Ennius and other earlier authors as a standard school text, and stood as the most popular Latin poet through late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and early modernity, exerting inestimable influence on all subsequent Western literature. Geoffrey Chaucer assigned Virgil a uniquely prominent position among all the celebrities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nisus And Euryalus
In Greek and Roman mythology, Nisus () and Euryalus (; ) are lovers serving under Aeneas in the ''Aeneid'', the Augustan epic by Virgil. Their foray among the enemy, narrated in book nine, demonstrates their stealth and prowess as warriors, but ends as a tragedy: the loot Euryalus acquires (a glistening Rutulian helmet) attracts attention, and the two die together. Virgil presents their deaths as a loss of admirable loyalty and valor. They also appear in Book 5, during the funeral games of Anchises, where Virgil takes note of their ''amor pius'', a love that exhibits the ''pietas'' that is Aeneas's own distinguishing virtue. In describing the bonds of devotion between the two men, Virgil draws on conventions of erotic poetry that have suggested a romantic relationship to some, interpreted by scholars in light of the Greek custom of ''paiderastia'', in which their ''amor pius'' possibly also expresses sexual love, comparing their ambiguous relationship to that of Achilles a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
