![]() The 'and' here covers a whole range of questions - for example, how is sexual difference represented in antiquity, how is it implicated with other kinds of socially constructed differences, is 'sexuality' a discrete concept or is it still awaiting its 'invention'? I will begin this essay by surveying Virgil's Eclogues (with side-glances at the Aeneid) to see what light they can shed on some of these issues. ![]() It is only in the past two decades, however, that scholarly interest has begun to focus on the topic of 'sexuality and gender' in antiquity. In his life of the poet, Suetonius reports that Virgil inclined toward the love of boys and that he addressed a favourite named Alexander under the name 'Alexis' in the Second Eclogue Martial pretends to believe that it was this rosy-lipped young slave who excited the poet to compose his Aeneid (Mart. One way or another, sexuality has always been a topic of interest to Virgil's readers. ![]()
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