How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality
(Hardback)
Publishing Details
How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality
By (Author) Sarah Nooter
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press
1st October 2024
United States
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Social and political philosophy
Self-help, personal development and practical advice
Gender studies, gender groups
883.01093538
Physical Properties
Hardback
264
Width 114mm, Height 171mm
Description
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 Homers 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 Homers story of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, one of the most intense between men in world literature, to Sapphos 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 agothat the erotic and queer are a source of life and a cause for celebration.
Author Bio
Sarah Nooter is professor of classics and theater and performance studies at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Greek Poetry in the Age of Ephemerality, The Mortal Voice in the Tragedies of Aeschylus, and When Heroes Sing: Sophocles and the Shifting Soundscape of Tragedy.
