FEAST ON...
David Roche Gallery
Greek Love, Roman Vice
Since the 19th century, the sunny climes of the Mediterranean have been a haven for gay men and lesbians. Fantasies about the cultures of Greece and Rome offered a form of escapism from the moral oppression that many experienced, while the prestige accorded to classical civilisation provided ammunition against those who treated homosexuality as a crime or a form of medical disorder.
This lecture explores the queer passion for the classical, focusing on the ways that specific figures and motifs from antiquity were cherished and imitated. In the lives and stories of Nero, Narcissus, Ganymede, Sappho, and Antinous, people found their ancestors and patterns to emulate in their own lives. Greco-Roman visual arts enthralled them. Like Pygmalion, they melted the coldness of the marble with the heat of their desire and found in forms of the ancient world, real, fleshy figures to love and inspire them.
This lecture explores the queer passion for the classical, focusing on the ways that specific figures and motifs from antiquity were cherished and imitated. In the lives and stories of Nero, Narcissus, Ganymede, Sappho, and Antinous, people found their ancestors and patterns to emulate in their own lives. Greco-Roman visual arts enthralled them. Like Pygmalion, they melted the coldness of the marble with the heat of their desire and found in forms of the ancient world, real, fleshy figures to love and inspire them.
Wheelchair Accessible
Learn More About the Artist/Producer...
Alastair Blanshard is the Paul Eliadis Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland. He is the author of a number of works on Greek homosexuality and its afterlife. He recently edited a collection of essays on Oscar Wilde and Classical Antiquity.
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