#An Atypical Affair? Alexander the Great Hephaistion Amyntoros and the Nature of Their Relationship

[jeannereames]

@bestnoncannonship, here you go!

Calling all the queer Classicists. :-)

BookTok Part I, going over some of the important books (and a few articles) about homoeroticism in ancient Greece. This covers material pre-2000. It's not everything, but several important works, including some that had an impact on my own academic work ("An Atypical Affair?: Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros and the Nature of Their Relationship," et al.), as well as on Dancing with the Lion.

Enjoy! Part II will come, but probably not for a little bit. I'm covered up in grading/et al. Same goes for the asks.

But I will answer!

[thedaughterandtheson]

“Emotional attachment has never been seriously questioned.”

The History of Alexander, Quintus Curtius Rufus // Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Nicholas Meyer // An Atypical Affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros and the Nature of Their Relationship, Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman // Star Trek: The Original Series 2.03 “The Changeling”, John Meredyth Lucas // Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Robert Wise // An Epistle from Alexander to Hephæstion in his Sickness, Anne Finch

[oo111111]

“An Atypical Affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros And The Nature Of Their Relationship” by Jeanne Reames

[jeannereames]

Cut the Old Queers Some Slack

This post brought to you by a review of Sandra Boehringer’s Female Homosexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome, which recent translation I posted about earlier with no little excitement. The BMCR review annoyed me for a couple reasons.

First was an assumption that when a book is translated, the author should retool it to modern terminology.* In the end, the reviewer said maybe just the forward from Boehringer should have addressed trans issues—which isn’t an invalid point—but other parts of the review seem to slam Boehringer for not doing more revisions for the new English translation (from a French original published in 2007). This leads me to….

Second issue: this assumes a uniquely Angliphone understanding, and even more, a British one (the reviewer teaches at Leeds), where the issue of TERFs is more pressing than in the US. Here, transphobia and transmisogyny is rooted more in religious objections than a subsect of radical feminists (who may not be religious at all). It’s not that the US has no TERFs, but it's not nearly the issue (ime) as in the UK.

Every country has its own quirks of bias. And the author is French. If I’ve learned anything about Queer culture in my almost 60 years on this planet, it’s that the pressing issues in one country are manifestly not the pressing issues in another—particularly across language lines. To assume they are (or should be) centers Angliphone culture in a way that annoys me.

OTOH, yes, especially US English-speakers have poor linguistic skills to read non-Anglophone scholarship as a result of bad public-school language education. But access to good language education is a matter of MONEY, which gets us into issues of social class, et al. That’s a different kettle of fish (which deserves its own post about wealth gate-keeping in academia).

But I do my best to remain cognizant that the ways we talk about queer culture and concerns differ even in Anglophone countries, never mind those of non-English speakers.

So that was my second big issue with this review.

The reviewer acknowledges that the original came out in 2007, and queer scholarship about the ancient world has moved on, particularly as regards recognition of non-binary ancient figures. But she can’t seem to keep from knocking Boehringer for not magically keeping up.

Folks, grant the Old Queers some slack here? When I was young, it was just LGB. Then LGBT. Now it’s an alphabet soup. I’m quite sure young queers who read “An Atypical Affair: Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros, and the Nature of Their Relationship,” could take exception to my phrasing in places. Hell, I’ll revise portions of it for my bio on Hephaistion and Krateros.

But it was published in 1999! And I actually wrote the thing in 1996 as a class assignment, then revised it in 1998 for that 1999 publication date.

Remember, some of us have been in this fight a while. I do my best to keep up with current terminology—and do genuinely want to do so—but it’s kinda gauche to slam authors for material previously published, especially in such a rapidly changing field.

To expect an author to substantially retool a prior publication for a translation is uncool. Real revision takes a lot of time. Not something I think many people fully understand. It’s not a matter of a couple weeks’ tweaks. If she were to produce a revised/second edition, that might take years. I’d rather have the book translated than wait five years for Boehringer to revise it. I can take it in the spirit of its original publication date: 2007. Could she have been more straightforward in her new forward? Perhaps. But French concerns aren’t British ones.

——

*Let me also say—as someone whose work is currently being translated—we may not have as much control as readers assume. I sent a letter to the Italian publisher, all but begging them to PLEASE keep the Greek transliterations of names and Greek words with Dancing with the Lion. They said they would, but I can’t force them to do so. For all I know, the Italian translation could be a dumpster fire. I hope not, I trust not, but translations are dicey. And if academic translations are quite different from fiction, be aware of the limits original authors face with translations.

[jeannereames]

Could you make a case for Alexander and Hephaestion being lovers ? The historical figures

Already did. It’s right here, probably the paper of mine that gets downloaded the most:

“An Atypical Affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros, and the Nature of Their Relationship.”

It’s 20+ years old now, so I’ll update it a bit when I get around to the monograph, but I haven’t altered my main argument. I just need to refine it in response to some of Sabine Müller’s work.

(I don’t mean this to sound cheeky or dismissive, just figured it’s easier to point to the paper.)

[jeannereames]

I imagine you've answered this question a thousand times over but I have to ask: Was Alexander in love with Hephaestian? And was he gay or bisexual?

Yes, indeed I have. 😊

Let me compile, for you and anyone else curious, some posts that address your questions. Also, for anybody looking for answers to previous asks (of which there are many), you can search my blog for ASKS, and then whatever keywords might help. I will warn that my posts range in length, but when it’s complex, they get long. Because it’s complex. 30-second soundbytes won’t do.

Here are the various blog replies that will answer your question. I’ve ordered them in the way probably easiest to read, building on information in prior posts:

“Was Hephaistion the love of Alexander’s Life?” — Relatively short (for me) post on what that might have meant in the ancient world.

“The Love Story at the Heart of Dancing with the Lion” — Written for my blog tour when the novels were released. It talks about the depth of their relationship. Not a long read.

“Alexander as LGBTQI Icon” / “Was Alexander the Great Gay?” — Another piece from my blog tour, a direct answer to one of your questions, and why it’s tough to talk about him in modern terms, and why I prefer “queer” to “gay” or “bisexual.”

“Greek Homoeroticism + Reading List” — Short for me with an brief bibliography at the end, for anybody who’d like to do more reading.

“Ancient Greek Sexuality for Dummies” — Written in response to a Tumblr ask, but now on my personal blog. I (and others) have used this as a primer for how the ancient Greeks thought about sex. It’s not about Alexander, per se, but explains the world view Alexander would have grown up with. (Contains some NSFW images from Greek pottery.) Also, not a short read, but it’s not a book, or even an article.

“Did the Closet exist in Antiquity” — Another look at how differently the ancient world understood sexual categories. Medium length read.

“Did Alexander and Hephaistion Continue Their Relationship throughout Their Lives?” — Some speculation from me on the question. Somewhat longish read.

Finally, my academic article, penned rather long ago now:

“An atypical affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros and the nature of their relationship,” Ancient History Bulletin 13.3 (1999) 81-96.

[jeannereames]

hi im a history major and enjoyed reading your essay 'an atypical affair'. I wish there were more essays that covered queer things in the widest sense in this professional manner. so I was wondering if you know of similar (but maybe also newer) sources or essays about homo erotism from antiquity (macedonia, persia, greece, egypt, everything mesopotamia geographically speaking), especially sth where there are conclusions possible about the everyday life or laws concerning that? thanks a lot (:

Greek homoeroticism (a term I prefer to “homosexuality,” which is modern) had it’s heyday from about 1978 (publication of Kenneth J. Dover’s seminal Greek Homosexuality) through the first decade of the 21st century, and there was a veritable explosion in the 1990s and 20-aughts, in particular. Some key books included John J. Winkler’s The Constraints of Desire—still my personal favorite treatment!—and David M. Halperin’s A Hundred Years of Homosexuality, as well as Before Sexuality, which he edited with Froma Zeitlin and Jack (John J.) Winkler, etc., plus a veritable landslide of articles (mine among them, along with one by Daniel Ogden, Mark Golden, Thomas Hubbard, and a few others whose names are escaping me).

In the last decade, that’s slowed, as the topic has been picked over pretty thoroughly, and it’s largely text- and art-history-based. So without new evidence, it’s getting harder to have much new to say. Plus, the lines of camps are pretty well drawn by now. Also, while I’m familiar with bibliography for Greece, I’m far less so for Rome.

For further reading, I’d direct you to the bibliography in my article, “An Atypical Affair: Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros, and the Nature of Their Relationship.” (I know you’ve already got it, but putting in a link for anybody else reading this who doesn’t.) Plumbing bibliography is the Number One Rule for all history students, grads and undergrads, both. Again, you may well already know that, but I mention it, in case not. I regularly get even grad students in our Ancient Mediterranean Studies Program who forget to look at bibliographies for further resources.

Yet as my article came out in 1999, there’s some late ‘90s/2000+ era material that just isn’t in it. Remember, any article appearing in print was probably written at least a year, and sometimes several years, before it appears, so the bibliography will reflect that time gap.

Ergo, here is some additional bibliography on homoeroticism in Greece (and Rome) appearing since my article. First, I list Blackwell’s Companion, even though it’s recent, as it’s a good overview of all angles of current (well, early 2010s) research, PLUS BIBLIOGRAPHY, for each chapter. Following that are a short list of books, more or less in publication order. These are books, so I offer the usual caution…a lot of the cutting-edge research in ancient history (until quite recently) tends to appear in ARTICLE form first. So, again, plumb the bibliographies of these books for other important and salient articles.

Thomas K. Hubbard, ed. (Blackwell’s) Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities (Yes, Hubbard is a deeply problematic figure, but his books can’t be left off; especially the sourcebook and the collection.)

James N. Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes: the Consuming Passions of Classical Athens

Thomas K. Hubbard, Homosexuality in Greece and Rome, a Sourcebook of Basic documents

James N. Davidson, The Greeks and Greek Love: a Bold New Exploration of the Ancient World  (I prefer his original Courtesans & Fishcakes, actually.)

Marilyn B. Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture, 2nd ed.

Martha Nussbaum & Juha Sihvola, The Sleep of Reason: erotic experience and sexual ethics in ancient Greece and Rome (collection of essays)

Daniel Ogden, Alexander the Great: Myth, Genesis, and Sexuality  (We agree on a lot, but disagree on some significant things.)

Sandra Boehringer, Female Homosexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Ken Moore, ed. Routledge Companion to the Reception of Ancient Greek and Roman Gender and Sexuality.

[oo111111]

“An Atypical Affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros And The Nature Of Their Relationship” by Jeanne Reames