Love and Hate in Ancient Greece and Rome
Essay Topics

Essay 1: Achilles and Patroclus   As we have seen, the closeness of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus  has been a topic of controversy, and had different interpretations, within the same culture and between different ones.  Homer does not portray a specific sexual aspect, but later Greeks regarded the relationship as containing at least the minimal sexual element of the erastes/eromenos bond.

Thomas Van Nortwick, on the other hand, argues that Patroclus should really be seen as an alter ego, a "second self,"  with the second self being "a vehicle for exploring the pain and rewards of knowing and learning to live with our imperfect selves [and achieving] a more integrated existence."  In this reading, Patroclus would be seen as a manifestation of personal elements Achilles lacks -- the things that would complete him as a person.  Patroclus, initially defined only by his relationship to Achilles, "shares with his friend a kind of intimacy not found elsewhere in the [Iliad]... [Achilles and Patroclus'] scenes together are all away from the main camp, away from the public world of the warrior culture ..."  Although he argues for a different paradigm, van Nortwick does comment that "lovers identify themselves as lovers within a private world, created by themselves alone, accessible to themselves alone, and certainly this is how Achilles seems to view his friend ..."

Beginning with van Nortwick's comments, discuss the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, and the ways in which the "lover," "friend," and "second self" readings of Patroclus might conflict or work together.

Essay 2: Homeric Hymn to Demeter

Nanci DeBooies, in her article about the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, comments,

The author of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, by manipulating the images of marriage, rape, and death, presents the story of the Rape of Persephone from two different, gender-specific points of view. From the masculine point of view, the event was a wedding; from the feminine, it was a rape. As in a modem rape trial or accusation of sexual assault, the stories of the parties involved are contradictory…. There is also the possibility that the truth is a matter of perspectives; both parties may well be telling the truth as they perceive it, based on their acculturation and experience.

Using this quote as a starting point, and supporting your arguments with quotes and specific incidents from the text of the Hymn, discuss the different approaches the characters in the Hymn reveal toward sexual desire and marital relationships.  Are these issues ultimately resolved, or do males and females in the Hymn continue to have widely different interpretations of the kidnapping of Persephone?  (I will be really impressed if you can incorporate a few parallel or opposing views of these issues as seen from our other sources as an aid to your interpretation.)

Essay 3: The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (and Lyric)

As we have seen, Aphrodite, as the goddess of love, appears nude in art, and although she is married to Hephaestus, has many lovers, so her behavior is quite unconventional for a woman.  The chief subject of the Homeric Hymn is her liaison with a mere mortal, Anchises, for whom Zeus sent her a passionate desire as punishment for her longing for him.   What views of the power of and nature of love – or maybe desire – emerge in this story?  Is love / desire delightful, destructive, helpless, humiliating, a source of pride, a  necessity of life, a frivolous matter, deadly serious, etc?  The experience of love and desire is not entirely the same for Anchises and Aphrodite.  Are the differences in their experiences or attitudes explicable because they are male vs. female, mortal vs.. divine, some combination of the two, or other factors?  If you like, you can incorporate ideas about love and desire expressed in lyric poetry to support or supplement your observations on the Hymn to Aphrodite.

Essay 4: Hetairai and Their Relationships

In Athenaeus, hetairai are portrayed in various kinds of relationships with men, ranging from the “sex for money” variety to the “lasting domestic relationship” variety.  Working from the text of Athenaeus, use specific anecdotes to describe the range of relationships shown by several different hetairai, or the variety of relationships of one of the famous hetairai he discusses.  What is the basis of the hetaira’s relationship to men?  Money, love, affection, (sexual) friendship, exploitation, lack of any emotional commitment, competition, adversarial dynamics, etc.?  Compare the views of the hetairai (or hetaira) you discus with Athenaeus, to the portrayals of Aspasia.  Where are the similarities in how Aspasia relates to men/lovers?  Where are the differences?

Essay 5: Sappho vs. Male Poets:

Some scholars/ literary critics have argued that the relationships Sappho portrays between herself (or her literary persona) and her youthful objects of desire, are substantially different from the kinds of relationships male poets evoke.  Do you find this to be so?  Using quotes and circumstances/situations created in the poems, show the similarities between Sappho’s writings and those of male poets, and (if you see any) the differences.  And, if you want to, you can consider whether love and desire between same-gender pairs (male/male, female/female) are different from relationships between male/female pairs?  Or from each other?  Focus your discussion on Lyric poetry, and consider issues such as imagery and  the ways in which emotions are expressed.  Within the Lyric focus, you may (briefly) bring in ideas from other primary sources we have studies to support your conclusions, if you like.