Sex Scandals of Ancient Greece and Rome

De: Monica Silveira Cyrino, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Monica Silveira Cyrino

The world has utterly transformed over the course of the last 2,000 years. Many of the norms, rules, and expectations of the ancient world can feel strange to our 21st century sensibilities. But certain things remain constant, and one of those is the complexity of human relationships—especially romantic and sexual relationships.

In the six lectures of Sex Scandals of Ancient Greece and Rome, Professor Monica Cyrino of the University of New Mexico will take you on a journey to the distant past to explore the sexual behaviors that have earned ancient Greece and Rome their reputation as hotbeds of debauchery. Beginning with the mythical Helen and the scandal that launched a thousand ships, Professor Cyrino will then take you through the stories of real-life scandals and controversies, exploring ancient attitudes about gender, sexuality, intimacy, and power along the way. From the love lives of poets to the sexual proclivities of politicians, you’ll see what these liaisons reveal about a side of ancient history that’s rarely covered in the classroom.

More than ancient gossip or sordid cautionary tales, these scandalous stories are also a helpful tool in understanding the ways history can be recorded and revised to suit various agendas, both personal and political. Were infamous emperors like Nero and Caligula as depraved as the stories say? Were all political marriages devoid of love and devotion? What should we make of pederasty in ancient Athens? Were women more sexually free than they are today, or less? Why do so many historians disagree on Alexander the Great’s sexual orientation? How much of history is littered with exaggeration and even outright lies? As you explore these and other questions, you’ll find that, while societies and cultures may change, our desires and motivations stay remarkably consistent across the ages.

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Whattt?!

I enjoyed most of it.

It was only when, despite no or tentative evidence, she charged Sokrates with actually having a sexual affair with Alkibiades. Her reasoning was the relentless sexual pursuit of Alkibiades. And when, despite the evidence not directly pointing somewhere, she leaned towards Alexander the Great not being as sexually restrained as is often reported. Even contradicting the biographical report that his main companion, Hephaestion, was a “friend” and not a lover. Leaning towards him being his longest romantic relationship.

Be that as it may, the rest was great. I learned a lot. She obviously states that not all charges against, for example, the Julio-Claudian family are true. But that given the plethora of literary evidence, perhaps there’s more truth there than falsehood. This is definitely an audible that you want to keep in your back pocket as a handy reference!

Entertaining salacious history, but I object to including pederasty as a “sex scandal”

This is half Greece and half Rome, with the Roman half being much more substantive. I’d recommend skipping to the Roman portion, particularly if your interest is the Caesar-Cleopatra-Antony love triangle. Pederasty (institutionalized exploitation of boys in Greece) should never have been included in a book marketed as “sex scandals” of antiquity. Beyond that, the Greek half is light work on Sappho and courtesans (hetairae like Phyrne).

This is an area I know quite a bit about, even having an advanced degree in classics. The author is largely accurate but suffers from a modern lens when viewing Ancient Greece in particular, eg, romanticizing pederasty. It’s not love between men in the modern sense, but child exploitation. Plus, the author shows inconsistency by condemning the Roman emperors’ alleged degeneracy and giving disturbing anecdotes (all coming from Suetonius who was basically the “Page Six” elite gossip “shock jock” of the era) yet bizarrely discusses pederasty as if it were fine. If this is simply because we don’t have the same level of sensationalized accounts that Suetonius gave, the very absence of such content points to the powerlessness and shame the children suffered.

I also object to the author embracing Suetonius’s other propaganda, particularly the allegation that Augustus offered himself/ submitted to his uncle Julius Caesar to become the heir. If either of these men were gay, we’d know it. More is written about them than just about anyone. Julius Caesar had an affair with Servilia for decades. Both men had children with Cleopatra and their Roman wives. Accusing a politician in Rome of being submissive to another man was considered the worst possible insult, not actual evidence of them loving another man. So the author shouldn’t have called these “sex scandals,” either.

If you’re interested in these topics, I’d recommend just reading Suetonius, the ancient biographer of the Caesars. He wrote the most salacious gossip to entertain the Roman elite, and much of it holds up as entertaining today even when translated to English.

Great stories

I was fascinated by the details of the ancients escapades. I have heard of Caligula and his rule and the details backed it up.