I am looking for analysis and/or criticism on erotic Greek vase
paintings. Specifically, analysis on the women in these paintings, and
how they are portrayed throughout the majority of the paintings. Any
websites, articles found would be of great help. Any feminist
viewpoints that can be found about erotic ancient Greek vase paintings
would be great. I am trying to compare modern pornography (playboy,
penthouse, etc...), to ancient greek pornography, as depicted on
vases.

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Clarification of Question by audiophile-ga on 01 May 2004 07:55 PDT

Maybe a more broad question would be, how does the depiction of women
in ancient greek pornography differ from that of modern pornography?

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Request for Question Clarification by blackbird-ga on 01 May 2004 09:13 PDT

Dear audiophile

I prepared an answer for your initial question before I saw your
clarification. My answer consists mainly of links to books and
articles of interest, as well as online bibliographies of your
subject. Would this still be of interest to you?
Kind regards

blackbird-ga

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Clarification of Question by audiophile-ga on 01 May 2004 10:17 PDT

Yes it would definately still be of interest, thanks.

Dear audiophile

Thank you for your question. Although there is some discussion of this
subject online, most seems to relate to reviews of analytical or
critical books on the subject, or bibliographies. I have selected some
of the most relevant below.


A. Books and Articles

1. _Women, Sexuality and Gender in Classical Art and Archaeology_,
edited by Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, Brandeis University, USA and Claire
L. Lyons (Routledge, 2000).

This book takes a feminist approach to classical art. You can search
the book at Amazon to see if it contains information useful to you:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0415217520/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-5023610-8750225#reader-link

You can read the introductory essay, "Naked Truths About Classical
Art" by Claire L. Lyons and Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, at the Diotima
site:

http://www.stoa.org/diotima/essays/nakedtruths.shtml#intro

The articles in the book were inspired by a 1993 panel of the American
Philological Association, "Feminist Approaches to Classical Art and
Archaeology" (A. O. Koloski-Ostrow and C. L. Lyons, co-organizers).
The abstracts of the seven panel papers were published in American
Philological Association, Abstracts of the One Hundred Twenty-fifth
Annual Meeting, 27--30 December 1993, Washington, DC, pp. 167-73.


2. There is a lengthy excerpt from _Among Women: From the Homosocial
to the Homoerotic in the Ancient World_, edited by Nancy Sorkin
Rabinowitz and Lisa Auange (University of Texas Press, 2002), at:
			
http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exrabamo.html
	
Among the chapters discussed are "Excavating Female Homoeroticism in
Ancient Greece: The Evidence from Attic Vase Painting" (Nancy Sorkin
Rabinowitz).


3. _Pornography and Representation in Greece and Rome_, edited by A.
Richlin (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992). It is reviewed at "Bryn
Mawr Classical Review 3.5.14":

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1992/03.05.14.html

Among its chapters are Robert F. Sutton, Jr., "Pornography and
Persuasion on Attic Pottery," pp. 3-35.


4. _Greek Erotica on Attic Red Figure Vases_ by M.F. Kilmer
(Duckworth, 1993), which is reviewed at "Bryn Mawr Classical Review
95.08.01":

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1995/95.08.01.html


5. Dyfri Williams, "Women on Athenian Vases: Problems of
Interpretation," in _Images of Women in Antiquity_, edited by Averil
Cameron and Amélie Kuhrt (Wayne State University Press, 1983), pp.
93-106.


6. A fascinating and fully illustrated investigation of erotica in Greek art is:

_Sex or Symbol: Erotic Images of Greece and Rome_ by Catherine Johns
(British Museum Publications, 1990).


7. A review article by D. Cohen, "Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in
Ancient Greece," _Classical Philology_, vol. 87, no. 2 (1992), pp.
145-160, discusses _Before Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic
Experience in the Ancient Greek World_, by David M. Halperin, John J.
Winkler and Froma I. Zeitlin, and _The Constraints of Desire: The
Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece_, by John J. Winkler.

If through your academic institution or library you are permitted
access to JSTOR, you can read this review article online, at:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-837X%28199204%2987%3A2%3C145%3ARASGAS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W



B. Online Bibliographies

1. The "Women in Greece Bibliography", by Christopher L. C. E.
Witcombe, contains a number of items that may be of interest to you:

http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/bibliogreece.html


2. "Women in Ancient Art and Culture Syllabus":

http://www.people.ku.edu/~prehak/WomenAntiq/

(page down for the list of bibliographies).


3. "Diotima: Women & Gender in the Ancient World" is a collection of
study materials:

http://www.stoa.org/diotima/


You can search the Bibliography at: 

http://www.stoa.org/diotima/biblio.shtml


You may be particularly interested in the "Greek sex" bibliography at:

http://www.stoa.org/dio-bin/diobib?greeksex


The "Greek art" bibliography is at:

http://www.stoa.org/dio-bin/diobib?greekart



C. Other sites of interest

1. The Latinlinks page has an article on "Erotic Greek art":  

http://latinlinks.users.btopenworld.com/ 

- click on the "Erotic Greek art" link in the left-hand frame.


2. There are examples of erotic Greek pottery art at "Apollonius.Net -
Greek Erotica":

http://www.apollonius.net/greece.html


3. Finally, for 600 dollars, you can buy your own "Erotic Man and
Woman Attica Lekythos Vase":

http://www.talariaenterprises.com/products_lg/4580.html



I hope this information is useful, and wish you luck in your research.
It?s a very interesting subject.

If you require further help, please ask for a question clarification.

Kind regards

blackbird-ga

===============
Google search strategy:

"greek art" vases women
"greek art" vases women pornography OR erotic

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Request for Answer Clarification by audiophile-ga on 01 May 2004 10:59 PDT

Thanks for you help....I was curious, if in your research you were
able to draw any conclusions about the views of women in greek vase
paintings? If not its ok...

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Clarification of Answer by blackbird-ga on 01 May 2004 11:39 PDT

Dear audiophile

It strikes me that Ancient Greek erotica is somehow descriptive rather
than exploitative. It seems that women are treated non-judgementally,
and the pictures I've seen don't stress sexual power or male
dominance. Catherine Johns, writing in _Sex or Symbol: Erotic Images
of Greece and Rome_ (p. 142), refers to the "matter-of-factness and
casualness in illustrating these erotic themes which is very foreign
to us".

I would really recommend looking at Johns's book if you get the chance
- the illustrations are wonderful.
Not sure if that's very helpful!
Kind regards

blackbird-ga

Dear audiophile

A site entitled "The Role of Women in Ancient Greek Art"
(http://www.fjkluth.com/amaz.html) contains a lot of information that
you might find of interest. The page entitled "Ancient Greek Visual
Arts" (http://www.fjkluth.com/gart.html) notes: "Stric[t]ly there is
no pornography in Greek art because they had no concept of
pornography. There is sex in Greek art and some opposes our
contemporary taste." There is a link to a site entitled "Love and Sex
and Women in the Art of Ancient Greece":

http://www.fjkluth.com/lovs.html

Click on the links or page down for the following subjects:

# Pornography in Ancient Greece
# Pictures of Love and Sex in the Art of Ancient Greece
# Resources
# Ask a Question about Love and Sex and the Art of Ancient Greece
# Questions and Answers about Love and Sex in the Art of Ancient Greece 

Hope this is useful.
Kind regards

blackbird-ga
ps My apologies for writing "are" instead of "is" in sections A.2 &
A.3 of my initial answer.