A problem in Greek ethics, being an inquiry into the phenomenon of sexual inversion; addressed especially to medical psychologists and jurists by John Addington Symonds

A problem in Greek ethics, being an inquiry into the phenomenon of sexual inversion; addressed especially to medical psychologists and jurists Reviews

• 
  Jon Corelis

  Dated but intetesting
  
  A Problem in Greek Ethics is one of the earliest modern books on ancient Greek homosexuality, one of the first published at the time in the late 19th century when the subject stopped being pretty much completely suppressed by both popular writers and scholars -- for instance, before that time, annotated and edited texts of ancient Greek literature intended for students, even college students, often simply omitted any references in the Greek text to homosexual relationships, sometimes without even advising the reader of the omission. Since then there has been a great amount of scholarship and theory discussion on the subject by classical and other scholars, most of which I'm not familiar with and can't speak with authority about, but from what I have read, it seems clear that this book now would be considered obsolete in its interpretations of the subject. It still may be of interest to some as a collection of source material and an example of the development of what used to be called sexology.
• 
  Nick

  Very dated in terms of archeology and worldview, but good content. Claims that most systems of Greek ethics are at their cores, aesthetic. And that ancient Greeks considered young boys aesthetically superior to women or adult men, so pederasty was accepted/glorified. Makes me wonder about how malleable peoples brains are/how temporally subjective human psychology is. By our standards they were all being sexually abused, but did they exhibit the symptoms we would associate with sexual abuse?
  
  Also has some interesting stuff about the role of family, bisexuality, lesbianism, etc, in ancient greece as well as certain excerpts or retellings of greek myths/poems relating to sex and gender.
  
  However due to the age it is annoying at times. He over-relies on the epics as sources about ancient-ancient greece, and would probably be considered sexist and homophobic by modern standards (though in his time he apparently argued for legalizing homosexuality, so yup)
• 
  Tara Thomas

  Mytho-Historical look at Greek pederasty from Homeric Greece to Greece under the Roman Empire. Insightful argument about distinctions between vulgar and chivalric pederasty between men, discussion of gendered social system, and comments on Greek ideals of beauty in art and poetry. Not as tedious or prescriptive a read as other sexology works of the time.