Eros and Polis: Desire and Community in Greek Political Theory

Extract

Eros and Polis: Desire and Community in Greek Political Theory, Paul W. Ludwig, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. xiii, 398

In Eros and Polis, Paul Ludwig explores a rich array of issues relating to eros, homosexuality, and pederasty and their implications for republican political life. He examines ancient accounts of eros and its relation to other forms of desire, to tyranny and aggression, to spiritedness and the love of one's own, and to bonds of affection between citizens. He discusses ancient attempts to overcome the divisiveness of the private realm by controlling erotic relations between citizens, both in practice (such as at Sparta) and in theory (Plato's Republic). He concludes with a critique of the attempt of Thucydides' Pericles to stir up erotic desire and harness it in the service of the city, and of the erotic passion implicit in the attraction to foreign customs and sights. Ludwig draws upon a wide range of ancient sources including Homer, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, Lucretius, and many others. But he does not limit himself to textual analysis; much of the book is devoted to putting these texts in historical context, and much is also devoted to drawing connections between ancient thoughts and practices and the concerns of contemporary political theory.