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Games of Venus (New Ancient World) 1st Edition

by Peter Bing (Editor), Rip Cohen (Series Editor)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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Recent attacks on contemporary art have portrayed the erotic content of works by Robert Mapplethorpe and others as if it were a deviation from the Western artistic tradition. On the contrary, there is a rich tradition of eroticism in the arts beginning with the erotic verse of ancient Greek and Roman poets.

Games of Venus, the first comprehensive anthology in English of ancient Greek and Roman erotic verse, revives this tradition for the modern reader.

Games of Venus presents the whole spectrum of erotic poetry from Sappho to Ovid in translations which evoke the full range of styles and tones present in the original Greek and Latin.

Brief biographical sketches accompany the work of each poet as do notes referring to the myths, geography, historical events, personages, and sexual and social customs mentioned in the verse.

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Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0415902614
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0415902618
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publication date
    March 2, 1995
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.67 x 9 inches
  7. Print length
    279 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This first comprehensive anthology of ancient Greek and Roman erotic verse includes Sappho, pederastic verse from Anacreon and Theognis, Virgil's homoerotic 2nd Eclogue, and other gay and lesbian poems." -- Lambda Book Report
". . . an extremely useful reference work for tomorro's students. It is handsomely produced and fills a most important gap." -- Daily Telegraph
"The introduction is scholarly; the translations are new; one can easily imagine the practicality of a text that provides an alternative to worn and stodgy collections of classical love poetry." -- The Yale Review
"Their translations display the freshness of an Ezra Pound rather than the late-Victorian murk of a Gilbert Murray. . . . Their renderings of Catullus, a challenge to generations of fledgling poets, are first rate . . . [T]his is a splendid book. Perhaps it is the best book that could have been devoted to an ethos that underlies all subsequent Occidental erotica." -- Libido: TheJournal of Sex and Sensibility

About the Author

Peter Bing is Associate Professor of Classics at Emory University. He is the author of The Well-Read Muse (1988), and translator of Homo Necans (1983). Rip Cohen has taught Classics and Romance Languages at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (March 2, 1995)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 279 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0415902614
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415902618
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.67 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

C. Brody
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Look at Ancient Verse
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2013
Verified Purchase
I picked this book up on a whim along with some other research materials on the subject of life in ancient Greece. I'm not sure really what I was expecting, but I was both surprised and delighted with what I got. The book comes with plenty of footnotes to help even the casual reader (like me) understand the significance of some of the more abstract verses...while other verses would be at home today on a roadhouse bathroom wall!
One person found this helpful
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Anibal Madeira
5.0 out of 5 stars Let the Games begin
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2012
Not the Olympic Games, nor the ludus. Here we have an introduction to the way Greeks and Romans faced on humanity most ancient and perilous "game"...maybe battlefield is a more appropriate definition. We're talking about Love, sexual desire and the quest to obtain them (both or just one).

This is an extraordinary anthology of Greek and Roman erotic verse. But much more than that, it is a fabulous introduction on ancient customs regarding sexual life and the classical views on how they regarded sex and roles.

Form the Greek symposium where erastes tried to conquer their eromenos, to the much sought hetaeras where a man should look for pleasure (and not their wives). The comparative freedom women had in the Hellenistic world (compared to classical Greece), quite obvious in contemporary verses. To the living goddesses like Ovid's Corinna or Catullus's Lesbia, loved and hated at the same time.

This book provides a solid footstep for further study, with excellent footnotes, suggested reading and representative examples of Greek and Roman erotic verse. Obviously you should study a little classical history and mythology before embarking on this journey; most verses have several references to myths, legend and history.

From Greece you have short biographies and excerpts from (among others): Archilochus, Alkman, Mimnermos, Sappho, Ibycus, Anacreon, Theognis, Hipponax, Pindar, Bacchylides, Hermesianax, Asclepiades, Callimachus, Theocritus, Herodas, Machon, the Grenfell papirus, , Meleager.

And from Rome you will find Bios and excerpts of: Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, Sulpicia, Propertius, Ovid.

Highly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
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