Making the Body Speak: The (Homo)Sexual Dimensions of Sneezing in Ancient Greek Literature
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Andreas Serafim
Abstract
This chapter examines the ways in which sneezing indicates male (homo)sexuality. Ancient sources (e.g. Diogenes Laertius 7.173 and Dio Chrysostom’s First Tarsian Oration 39 and 53-54) say that even if men try to hide homosexuality behind a strong physique and behavioural mannerisms, physiognomists are able to find it out when they hear them sneezing. Using both ancient treatises (e.g. the Book of Physiognomy, a work that probably dates back to the end of the 4th century AD and offers information about the physical features of the masculine and feminine bodies, together with the ways in which the ancients practised physiognomy) and modern interdisciplinary research theories, this chapter sheds some light on the potential of voice, sound and involuntary bodily movements to reveal sexuality.
Abstract
This chapter examines the ways in which sneezing indicates male (homo)sexuality. Ancient sources (e.g. Diogenes Laertius 7.173 and Dio Chrysostom’s First Tarsian Oration 39 and 53-54) say that even if men try to hide homosexuality behind a strong physique and behavioural mannerisms, physiognomists are able to find it out when they hear them sneezing. Using both ancient treatises (e.g. the Book of Physiognomy, a work that probably dates back to the end of the 4th century AD and offers information about the physical features of the masculine and feminine bodies, together with the ways in which the ancients practised physiognomy) and modern interdisciplinary research theories, this chapter sheds some light on the potential of voice, sound and involuntary bodily movements to reveal sexuality.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- List of Figures XI
- Sex, Sexuality, Sexual Intercourse and Gender: The Terms and Contexts of the Volume 1
-
Part I: Aspects of Homoeroticism
- Dover’s “Pseudo-sexuality” and the Athenian Laws on Male Prostitutes in Politics 19
- Group Sex, Exhibitionism/Voyeurism and Male Homosociality 43
- Making the Body Speak: The (Homo)Sexual Dimensions of Sneezing in Ancient Greek Literature 71
- “Fell in Love with an Anus”: Sexual Fantasies for Young Male Bodies and the Pederastic Gaze in Rhianus’ Epigrams 89
- Silencing Female Intimacies: Sexual Practices, Silence and Cultural Assumptions in Lucian, Dial. Meretr. 5 111
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Part II: Sex and Medicine
- Clitoridectomy in Ancient Greco-Roman Medicine and the Definition of Sexual Intercourse 141
- Sex and Epilepsy: Seizures and Fluids in Greek Medical Imagination 173
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Part III: The Use and Abuse of Sex Objects
- Some Dirty Thoughts about Chairs and Stools: Iconography of Erotic Foreplay 193
- Olive Oil, Dildos and Sandals: Greek Sex Toys Reassessed 221
- Statues as Sex Objects 245
- Having Sex with Statues: Some Cases of Agalmatophilia in Latin Poetry 263
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Part IV: Sexual Liminality
- Hephaistos Among the Satyrs: Semen, Ejaculation and Autochthony in Greek Culture 285
- Human-animal Sex in Ancient Greece 307
- The Womb Inside the Male Member: A Lucianic Twist 323
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Part V: Sex and Disgust
- Sex and Disgust in Martial’s Epigrams 351
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Part VI: The Scripts of Sexuality: Drama, Novel, Papyri and Later Texts
- To Voice the Physical: Sex and the Soil in Aeschylus 377
- Seminal Figures: Aristophanes and the Tradition of Sexual Imagery 425
- The Maiden who Knew Nothing about Sex: A Scabrous Theme in Novella and Comedy 445
- Sex and Abuse in Unhappy Marriages in Late Antique Oxyrhynchus: The Case of Two Women’s Narratives Preserved on Papyrus 471
- “Asexuality” in the Greek Papyrus Letters 487
- From Plato’s Symposium to Methodius’ and Late Antique Hagiography: “Female” Readings of Male Sexuality 509
- Notes on Editors and Contributors 529
- Index Locorum 531
- General Index 535
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- List of Figures XI
- Sex, Sexuality, Sexual Intercourse and Gender: The Terms and Contexts of the Volume 1
-
Part I: Aspects of Homoeroticism
- Dover’s “Pseudo-sexuality” and the Athenian Laws on Male Prostitutes in Politics 19
- Group Sex, Exhibitionism/Voyeurism and Male Homosociality 43
- Making the Body Speak: The (Homo)Sexual Dimensions of Sneezing in Ancient Greek Literature 71
- “Fell in Love with an Anus”: Sexual Fantasies for Young Male Bodies and the Pederastic Gaze in Rhianus’ Epigrams 89
- Silencing Female Intimacies: Sexual Practices, Silence and Cultural Assumptions in Lucian, Dial. Meretr. 5 111
-
Part II: Sex and Medicine
- Clitoridectomy in Ancient Greco-Roman Medicine and the Definition of Sexual Intercourse 141
- Sex and Epilepsy: Seizures and Fluids in Greek Medical Imagination 173
-
Part III: The Use and Abuse of Sex Objects
- Some Dirty Thoughts about Chairs and Stools: Iconography of Erotic Foreplay 193
- Olive Oil, Dildos and Sandals: Greek Sex Toys Reassessed 221
- Statues as Sex Objects 245
- Having Sex with Statues: Some Cases of Agalmatophilia in Latin Poetry 263
-
Part IV: Sexual Liminality
- Hephaistos Among the Satyrs: Semen, Ejaculation and Autochthony in Greek Culture 285
- Human-animal Sex in Ancient Greece 307
- The Womb Inside the Male Member: A Lucianic Twist 323
-
Part V: Sex and Disgust
- Sex and Disgust in Martial’s Epigrams 351
-
Part VI: The Scripts of Sexuality: Drama, Novel, Papyri and Later Texts
- To Voice the Physical: Sex and the Soil in Aeschylus 377
- Seminal Figures: Aristophanes and the Tradition of Sexual Imagery 425
- The Maiden who Knew Nothing about Sex: A Scabrous Theme in Novella and Comedy 445
- Sex and Abuse in Unhappy Marriages in Late Antique Oxyrhynchus: The Case of Two Women’s Narratives Preserved on Papyrus 471
- “Asexuality” in the Greek Papyrus Letters 487
- From Plato’s Symposium to Methodius’ and Late Antique Hagiography: “Female” Readings of Male Sexuality 509
- Notes on Editors and Contributors 529
- Index Locorum 531
- General Index 535
