Queering the Middle Ages Book

This was written for an assignment in my undergraduate "Religion and Sexuality" class.

Halperin, David M. One Hundred Years of Homosexuality: and other essays on Greek love. New York: Routledge, 1990.

The recent outing of homosexuality within the last thirty or so years as a viable identity for a large population of modern people has led to a renewed interest in the history of sexuality throughout the world. One Hundred Years of Homosexuality presents a new look at the erotics present in the male-dominated culture of Ancient Greece, especially Athens, from about the 6th through the 4th centuries BCE. Halperin believes that modern definitions of sexuality cannot be used to accurately describe the practices of the Ancient Greeks, and that looking at Greek culture from a distinctly Euro-centric point of view, as many scholars have done, is damaging to all the work done by the academic community. Halperin contends that Ancient Greek sexuality must be studied both as a distinct, specific institution, wherein sex is connected inextricably with gender and social status, and also within the geographical and historical context of the Ancient world.

Because this book is a collection of essays, the author is able to study very narrow aspects of Ancient Greece in a concise and specific way. Short considerations of related subjects help to build an overall picture of Ancient Greek culture and life, and allow the author to draw parallels to modern paradigms in a very carefully and consciously. Because each essay is fairly short, Halperin is able to avoid being overly general in the application of his ideas. He is clearly well read, and is not afraid to cite his sources or to be quite blunt as to his opinions of others’ research, both positive and negative. The variety of formats taken by the essays, including transcribed interviews, and summaries and critiques of other research, combine to supplement and augment the author’s distinct responses and own research.

Despite the overall strength of the collection, the essay format is a drawback in that it allows no sustained, detailed study of one subject, and the author is able to skirt difficult issues by citing space concerns. Furthermore, although Halperin is confident in his many critiques of other authors, he draws primarily from their writings and presents comparatively little original research of his own. There is also an obvious lack of primary source documentation, which is very strange for someone so widely read, especially when the plethora of documentation and evidence dating from 6th through 4th century Greece is taken into account.