Gay and Lesbian Poetry: An Anthology from Sappho to Michelangelo (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, Vol 1874)

Rutgers medievalist Wilhelm's ambitious survey collects European homoerotic poetry from 7th century BCE Greece through the Italian Renaissance. Though Dante, Chaucer, and others deploying gay characters are included, as are a scattering of antihomosexual polemicists, the voice of these poems is typically a mature gay man (Sappho is one of but a few women represented), the object a smooth-cheeked youth. Selections from medieval Arabic and Hebrew poetry provide some of this anthology's most disarming reading? Eg, Imn Shuhaid's "he passed me in a herd of deer, a smiling moon with lucky teeth"? As well as evidencing the improbable license apparently then possible under Islamic rule. Though generally capable, the translators sometimes resort to anachronisms (a calculator in a Juvenal satire?) and contemporary subculture argot to mixed effect. And aside from brief introductions to each section and to individual poets, the annotations are minimal? Too minimal, perhaps, for many a lay reader without a literary dictionary immediately at hand. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 PREFACE 12 SECTION I CLASSICAL GREEK LITERATURE 16 Chapter 1 SAPPHO (ca. 630–ca. 580 B.C.) 18 Chapter 2 EARLY MALE LYRIC POETS 24 Chapter 3 THEOCRITUS AND THE PASTORAL TRADITION 36 Chapter 4 STRATO OF SARIDS MUSA PUERILIS THE BOYISH MUSE 42 SECTION II CLASSICAL LATIN LITERATURE 98 Chapter 5 THE LYRIC: CATULLUS, HORACE, AND TIBULLUS 100 Chapter 6 VERGIL 120 Chapter 7 OVID 124 Chapter 8 SATIRE: MARTIAL, JUVENAL, AND PETRONIUS 130 SECTION III MEDIEVAL LATIN LITERATURE 148 Chapter 9 A.D. 300–1000 150 Chapter 10 A.D. 1000–1300 166 Chapter 11 ANONYMOUS POEMS FROM LATER MANUSCRIPT 184 SECTION IV ARABIC POETRY 206 Chapter 12 MEDIEVAL SPANISH SELECTIONS 208 SECTION V HEBREW POETRY 248 Chapter 13 MEDIEVAL SPANISH SELECTIONS 250 SECTION VI LATE MEDIEVAL VERNACULAR LITERATURE TO 1400 274 Chapter 14 THE TROBAIRITZ BIETRIS DE ROMANS (ca. EARLY 1200S) 276 Chapter 15 DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265–1321) 278 Chapter 16 GEOFFREY CHAUCER (ca. 1341–1400) 286 SECTION VII ITALIAN RENAISSANCE LITERATURE TO MICHELANGELO 290 Chapter 17 SELECTIONS FROM 1400 TO 1550 292 GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 340 INDEX OF AUTHORS AND LONGER WORKS 342 An Anthology from Sappho to Michelangelo Classical Greek Literature / Dennis Kratz -- Sappho -- Early Male Lyric Poets -- Theocritus And The Pastoral Tradition -- Strato Of Sardis Musa Puerilis The Boyish Muse -- Classical Latin Literature / James J. Wilhelm -- The Lyric: Catullus, Horace, And Tibullus -- Vergil -- Ovid -- Satire: Martial, Juvenal, And Petronius -- Medieval Latin Literature / Thomas Stehling And James J. Wilhelm -- A.d. 300-1000 -- A.d. 1000-1300 -- Anonymous Poems From Later Manuscripts -- Arabic Poetry / Arthur Wormhoudt -- Medieval Spanish Selections -- Hebrew Poetry / Norman Roth -- Late Medieval Vernacular Literature To 1400 / James J. Wilhelm -- Trobairitz Bietriz De Romans (ca. Early 1200s) -- Dante Alighieri -- Geoffrey Chaucer -- Italian Renaissance Literature To Michelangelo / James J. Wilhelm -- Selections From 1400 To 1550. Edited By James J. Wilhelm. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [327]-328) And Index. First published in 1995. This anthology focuses on European languages, but also includes Arabic and Hebrew poetry of medieval Spain, arranged chronologically and accompanied by commentary about the poets' lives and work. The treatment of homosexual love in Classical Greek literature reflects the ambivalent role of homosexuality in Greek culture.