Dust and Spores

Greek Homosexuality / K. J. Dover
Updated and with a new postscript.
Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1989
x, 246 p.

This is an extremely thorough book on the topic of... uh.... oh, yeah, Greek homosexuality. Like the book about women in Greek myth I reviewed a couple hours ago, this also provides a complete and balanced survey of the evidence, recognizing contradictions without fitting anything into a preconceived idea.

His analysis is largely of a well-documented court case of a man accused of soliciting sex from another man in such a way that didn't fit into society's rules governing homosexual encounters. (So much for the Daily Gay Orgy theory, guys.) There's also a lot taken from painted vases, which is fun, and the book has copious plates so you can follow along. I especially liked the analyses of comedic drama where he draws conclusions from what people back then found funny... but that sort of thing has always fascinated me.

Anyway, that's basically all these is to say: well-researched, well-written. Pretty much the best book I've read on the subject... out of one.