The Seduction of the Mediterranean: Homosexual Writing, Art and Fantasy

Annotation Through an explanation of forty figures in European culture, T̂he Seduction of the Mediterranean argues that the Mediterranean, classical and contemporary, was the central theme in homoerotic writing and art from the 1750s to the 1950s. Episodes of exile, murder, drug-taking, wild homosexual orgies and court cases are woven into an original study of a significant theme in European culture. The myth of a homoerotic Mediterranean made a major contribution to general attitudes towards Antiquity, the Renaissance and modern Italy and Greece The Mediterranean Was The Central Theme In Homoerotic Writing And Art From The 1750s To The 1950s. Writers And Artists Delved Into Classical Mythology And History For Figures - Such As Ganymede And Achilles - Through Which They Could Portray A Sexuality Considered By Society As A Sin, An Illness And A Crime. Many Journeyed To The South Of Europe, Particularly Italy, To Admire The Ruins Of Antiquity And The Paintings Of The Renaissance, Escape The Social Censure Of Their Home Countries And Find Sexual Partners. The Lives And Works Of Forty Writers Are Examined, From The Art Historian Winckelmann In The 1700s, Through Romantic Poets Such As Byron And Platen, To Wilde, Isherwood And Forster. Attention Is Given To The Works Of Such Painters As Girodet And Von Marees And The Photographs Of Von Gloeden And List. Robert Aldrich Sets The Phenomenon Of Homosexual Interest In The Mediterranean In Its Social And Historical Context. He Suggests That Different Myths Replaced That Of The Homoerotic Mediterranean By The 1960s, As Gay Liberation Diminished The Need For The Legitimation Of Homosexuality Which The Classics Provided, And Law Reform Lessened The Need For Exile. This Book Brings Together For The First Time A Study Of Seminal Figures In Homosexual Culture And Explains The Link - Fascination With The Mediterranean - Which Bound Them Together. Introduction: The Mediterranean Obsession -- 1. Sex And Society In The European Mediterranean: Greek, Roman And Renaissance -- 2. Winckelmann And Platen -- 3. Englishmen In Southern Europe -- 4. Following In The Footsteps -- 5. Mediterranean Men In Art And Photography -- 6. The Social And Historical Context -- 7. Contemporary Echoes -- Conclusion: The Birth And Near Death Of A Gay Myth. Robert Aldrich. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 225-255) And Index. Through an examination of forty figures in European culture, The Seduction of the Mediterranean argues that the Mediterranean, classical and contemporary, was the central theme in homoerotic writing and art from the 1750s to the 1950s. Episodes of exile, murder, drug-taking, wild homosexual orgies and court cases are woven into an original study of a significant theme in European culture. The myth of a homoerotic Mediterranean made a major contribution to general attitudes towards Antiquity, the Renaissance and modern Italy and Greece. Through an exploration of forty figures in European culture, this book argues that the Mediterranean, classical and contemporary, was the central theme in homoerotic writing and art from the 1750s to the 1950s. Episodes of exile, murder, drug-taking, wild homosexual orgies and court cases are woven into an original study of a significant theme in European culture. The myth of a homoerotic Mediterranean made a major contribution to general attitudes towards Antiquity, the Renaissance and modern Italy and Greece. Through an exploration of forty figures in European culture, the author argues that the Mediterranean, classical and contemporary, was the central theme in homoerotic writing and art from the 1750s to the 1950s.