Luke Edward Hall

I love ancient stuff and this book was on my shelf for awhile after having bought it back in 2023. While I enjoyed the writings, I think the thing that I'm not into is he ahistoricism of certain stories to match with our modern ideas about sexuality and gender. Like it seemed wild to me that Ganymede's abduction would be entirely glossed over but then Nero's sadism would be condemned despite it being no less queer than the more lovey and lyrical things.

An excellent introduction to queer writings from Ancient Greece and Rome. Seán Hewitt's selections showcase a variety of perspectives and his introductions provide good context for the works; his translations are serviceable, although he did tone down Catullus 16.

Luke Edward Hall's illustrations aren't really to my taste, but he does a good job of capturing the feelings of the selections.

Recevied via NetGalley.

Anthology of queer stories translated from ancient Greek and Roman authors, beautifully presented. This is a book to genuinely treasure because of the variety of these choices and the exquisite illustrations.