In all societies and cultures, the erotic experience is complex. It is shaped by norms, habits, emotions and manners of living the body. Such an experience crosses a variety of discourses and domains of knowledge. We will look at this phenomenon, the erotic, as a matter of desire, pleasure, bodies, institutions. We will go beyond the sexual acts, beyond the controversial notion of “sexuality”, beyond sex as merely a matter of power, and will bring to the fore what was truly relevant in the cultures on the ancient world: sensuality.
We will host visitors on Zoom:
February 9, 2022
Erin McKenna Hanses (Penn State University)
“A Woman’s Pleasure: Philosophy and Sexuality in the Poetry of Sulpicia”
February 16, 2022
Tommaso Gazzarri (Union College)
“Green Like a Woman: Gender Expression and Erotic Manners
February 23, 2022
Romain Brethes (Sciences Politiques, Paris)
“A Two-Way Road: Comparative Anthropology of Eros and Sensuality in Latin Elegy and the Greek Novel”
March 2, 2022
March Pierre Destrée (Université de Louvain)
“Why (and how) should a Platonist laugh at Eros? Humor and love in the Symposium”
CMRS-CEGS Research Seminar for Winter Quarter 2022
Classics 250, “Eros. Amor. The Erotic Cultures of the Early Global World.”
Wednesdays, 12-3 pm PST