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How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality
264 pages, Hardcover
Published June 4, 2024
25 people are currently reading
366 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 8, 2025
“Queer� is, of course, a modern concept. Or is it? This collection of new translations by Sarah Nooter will certainly greatly expand your views on what the Greco-Romans thought about sex and love, not to mention how they put those thoughts into action. Nooter begins by going all the way back to the Iliad, which—as she puts it—“shows one of the most intense and loving relationships between two men in world literature,� the one between Achilles and Patroclus, which almost wrecked the Greeks� attempt to win the Trojan War. How to Be Queer also features poetry from Sparta, of all places, and of course by Sappho of Lesbos, the highland near modern western Turkey from which we derive the very word “lesbian.� My two favorite sections, however, come right at the end: “The wings of love: adoring boys,� from Plato’s Phaedrus, and especially “Who wants to live forever: killer queen,� based on Plato’s Symposium. The latter is a masterpiece of literature-as-philosophy, featuring a speech on eros by none other than Socrates, as well as the dashing and complicated Alcibiades crushing the party and sorrowfully recounting his unsuccessful attempts at seducing Socrates. You will never look at sex, love, or philosophy in the same way after reading this.
August 22, 2024
3.5 stars
Damn those Greeks were down bad for men I wanna see some crazy Tumblr-iffied version of Plato, Socrates and Alcibiades now
Only note about the overall book is there really isn't much Sappho in it's pages but the translation is thorough and well done
Damn those Greeks were down bad for men I wanna see some crazy Tumblr-iffied version of Plato, Socrates and Alcibiades now
Only note about the overall book is there really isn't much Sappho in it's pages but the translation is thorough and well done
July 4, 2024
“If now she flees, soon she will chase.
If now she does not accept gifts, rather she will give.
If she does not love, soon she will love even against her will."
beautiful
If now she does not accept gifts, rather she will give.
If she does not love, soon she will love even against her will."
beautiful
Read
August 27, 2024A really good collection of ancient Greek "queer" literature. I wish there were more women involved � while I understand it's reflective of the culture that there's a lot on male homoeroticism and not female, men were writing about lesbians (as indicated by her inclusion of Alcman's choral songs), and what they had to say is illuminating in and of itself. I was also intrigued by the choice to include a segment about male crossdressing but not one about actual sex changes � the book is themed around sexuality so I wasn't expecting that, until one form of gender nonconformance was included and not the other. (Tiresias would have been very thematically appropriate!) Nonetheless, I enjoyed the poetry, and I hope to go back and look at the translation decisions in more detail at a later date.
April 28, 2025
I’m genuinely hesitant to rate How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality by Sarah Nooter three stars instead of two, this was a frustratingly fragmented read.
Much like my experience with Marcus Aurelius� Meditations, this book is mostly a compilation of quotes and excerpts, feeling more like lazy curation than genuine scholarship. I was excited by the premise with the rich potential for exploring sexuality in the Ancient Greek world but instead found it disappointingly lacking in cohesive narrative or in-depth analysis. The biggest letdown was the missed opportunity to integrate meaningful insights directly into the main text, what should have been thoughtful analysis ended up hidden away in the footnotes. Moreover, my initial excitement upon seeing Achilles and Patroclus featured prominently in the opening chapter quickly turned to disappointment as instead of fresh perspectives or engaging commentary, it was essentially a copy-paste of familiar Iliad excerpts�
Overall, this felt less like a thoughtful exploration and more like a hastily assembled anthology, leaving me wishing it had aspired to be more than just a collection of fragmented quotes.
Much like my experience with Marcus Aurelius� Meditations, this book is mostly a compilation of quotes and excerpts, feeling more like lazy curation than genuine scholarship. I was excited by the premise with the rich potential for exploring sexuality in the Ancient Greek world but instead found it disappointingly lacking in cohesive narrative or in-depth analysis. The biggest letdown was the missed opportunity to integrate meaningful insights directly into the main text, what should have been thoughtful analysis ended up hidden away in the footnotes. Moreover, my initial excitement upon seeing Achilles and Patroclus featured prominently in the opening chapter quickly turned to disappointment as instead of fresh perspectives or engaging commentary, it was essentially a copy-paste of familiar Iliad excerpts�
Overall, this felt less like a thoughtful exploration and more like a hastily assembled anthology, leaving me wishing it had aspired to be more than just a collection of fragmented quotes.
February 16, 2025
This was such a great translation! I would like it if there were more descriptive introductions to the chapters, but otherwise this was informative and lovely.
December 16, 2024
Mostly passages in Greek with translations and limited analysis. Not enough context for me, but I found some of the passages interesting
August 8, 2024
Wonderful anthology of queer excerpts from Ancient Greece. I wish the introductions for each text was longer. That being said, each introduction gave me enough context to boldly tackle the ancient writings. I was pleasantly surprised by all of the queer Greek history that the American education system failed to teach me during my K-12 years. I hope current educators take note and introduce more queer role models into their curriculum.
December 7, 2024
I maintain that Theognis of Megara needs to learn how to accept rejection. Maybe he doesn't want you not because he is fickle and young but bc u're ugly?? like for real
this book said it wasn't glossing over the problematic aspect of ancient sources and it did not lie oop
anyway, shout out to the woman praising other women but still saying 'I myself am just a girl who screeches in vain from the rafter, an owl'
and shoutout to Alcibiades lol
this book said it wasn't glossing over the problematic aspect of ancient sources and it did not lie oop
anyway, shout out to the woman praising other women but still saying 'I myself am just a girl who screeches in vain from the rafter, an owl'
and shoutout to Alcibiades lol
September 11, 2024
I’m not a usual reader of poetry or classical texts, but I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was fascinating to listen to how the Greeks wrote so eloquently about same sex attraction.
Definitely not informed enough to offer a critique if the content, but as a newbie, this was a really interesting and accessible listen.
Definitely not informed enough to offer a critique if the content, but as a newbie, this was a really interesting and accessible listen.
December 6, 2024
Due to some of the content in here being plays/writings, reading it physically probably would have been easier for me to absorb and understand…Though, hearing the validity of queer people in long long longgggggg ago publications and life was awesome and a good read for sure.
I may re-read physically at some point.
I may re-read physically at some point.
August 10, 2024
So cool!! There were moments when I felt the translations could have been a bit more artful (?) but also moments of beautiful poetry and prose. All in all, it was a collection of proof that queer people have always been here, philosophizing and writing and loving each other.
November 9, 2024
Ik vond de eerste helft lichter, leuker en interessanter dan de tweede helft. De verduidelijkende voetnoten kon ik wel appreciëren, zo leerde ik nog eens iets nieuws over Griekse mythologie of de oudheid. Ook de inleiding bij elk hoofdstuk was een goede toevoeging!
April 24, 2025
A better title would be how to be a pedophile. I found this book deeply disturbing, and really don’t care about societal norms during the different time frames of history. Truly disgusting in so many ways.
July 25, 2024
ah the lovers and the beloved
September 30, 2024
some of these passages were so beautiful
December 26, 2024
Super cute collection of queer poetry from the ancient world.
February 6, 2025
The layout of the poetry and stories in the book is smart, and I really enjoyed the selected passages. I think it's important for modern day queer people to get a glimpse into the past and see that the community has been around far longer than some people think. I also found it to be a good introduction to greek poetry which, because of the phrasing and word usage, can be difficult to understand.
April 15, 2025
Aristófanes le sabÃa
April 30, 2025
Loved the telling of the stories. God those Greeks were cheeky and obsessed with love
January 31, 2025
I don’t understand the title. IMHO There was not much here that would help folks today. It would have been better to title it “How the Greeks Handled Being Queer.� There are some interesting things about how the Greeks looked on, and lived with, homosexuality. Half the book shows the Greek texts that Nooter translated; Greek on the left and English on the right. The Greek was useless to me.
The best chapter for me was the clear translation of how the very earliest humans were two people in one body and how the gods split them - leaving us to search for “our other half.� I had heard of this but did not know the details. Interesting.
The best chapter for me was the clear translation of how the very earliest humans were two people in one body and how the gods split them - leaving us to search for “our other half.� I had heard of this but did not know the details. Interesting.
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