Διεθνές συνέδριο κλασικής φιλολογίας στο Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, 06-07 Ιουνίου 2019


Sex and the ancient city: Aspects of sexual intercourse in Greco-Roman antiquity. International conference in honour of Professor Chris Carey, University College London. 

Organizers

Andreas Serafim (University of Cyprus)
George Kazantzidis (University of Patras)
Kyriakos Demetriou (University of Cyprus) 

Venue and time 

University of Cyprus, 06-07 June 2019 

Confirmed speakers

Allison M. J. Glazebrook, Brock University
Amphilochios Papathomas, University of Athens
Andreas Fountoulakis, University of Crete
Angeliki Tzanetou, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Athanasios Efstathiou, Ionian University
Barbara Gold, Hamilton College
Chrysanthi Demetriou, University of Cyprus
Chrysanthos Chrysanthou, University of Heidelberg
Dimitris Kanellakis, University of Oxford
Edward M. Harris, Durham University/University of Edinburgh
Eleni Volonaki, University of Peloponnese
Evan Jewell, Columbia University
Ioannis Konstantakos, University of Athens
James Davidson, University of Warwick
José Arnaldo Malheiro Esteves Magalhães, University of Roehampton
Konstantinos Kapparis, University of Florida
Lesley Dean-Jones, University of Texas at Austin
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Cardiff University
Maria Gerolemou, University of Exeter
Mike Edwards, University of Roehampton
Nancy Rabinowitz, Hamilton College
Nancy Worman, Columbia University
Nikolas P. Kakkoufa, Columbia University
Nick Fisher, Cardiff University
Regina Höschele, University of Toronto
Rosalia Hatzilambrou, University of Athens
Spyridon Tzounakas, University of Cyprus
Thomas K. Hubbard, University of Texas at Austin
Vasileios Liotsakis, University of Heidelberg
Vassilios Vertoudakis, University of Athens

Description

This conference aims to offer a holistic re-examination of sexual intercourse in Greco-Roman antiquity. Issues revolving around sexuality in antiquity are among the most talked-about topics in classical scholarship. Much work, for example, has been done on homosexuality (e.g. Dover: Greek Homosexuality; Halperin: One Hundred Years of Homosexuality; Davidson: The Greeks and Greek Love), pederasty (Hubbard: Greek Love Reconsidered; Lear and Cantarella: Images of Ancient Greek Pederasty), male and female physiques, bodies and garbs (Lee: Body, Dress and Identity), Eros and the erotic in myth and literature, with emphasis on the erotic as an emotion (Sanders, Thumiger, Carey, and Lowe: Eros in Ancient Greece), adultery (Cohen:Law, Sexuality, and Society) and prostitution (Faraone and McClure: Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World; Kapparis: Prostitution in the Ancient Greek World), to name a few, among other important studies. 

What is still relatively understudied in classical scholarship, however, is sexual intercourse per se, i.e. the predilections and fantasies, sexual practices, fetishes, and toys. Paul Chrystal in his book, In Bed with the Romans: A Brief History of Sex in Ancient Rome, offers invaluable information about sexual practices, e.g. cross-dressing, transsexualism, same-sex marriage, orgies, rape and bad language. There is, of course, scope for further research that would approach sexual practice from a broad analytical focus: legal, social, political, cultural, religious, medical and emotional, using both textual and non-textual evidence (i.e. architecture, iconography, epigraphy etc.).

Topics include, but are not limited to considerations of:

  1. Male and female sexual practices (e.g kinky sex, anal penetration, orgies, masturbation, cases of sadomasochism etc.) and the use of sex toys.
  2. Male and female (uncanny) body images.
  3. Homosexual, lesbian, and extra-marital sex.
  4. Bestiality, necrophilia, sexual assault, and rape.
  5. Pornography.
  6. Aspects of sexual medicine (e.g. circumcision, urinary tract infections, priapism etc.)
  7. Cases of human asexuality (i.e. the lack of sexual attraction, desire, and action). 

Please feel free to contact Andreas Serafim (serafim.andreas@ucy.ac.cy) and/or George Kazantzidis (gkazantzidis@upatras.gr), if you have any questions and/or requests.