Serendipity has once again set up a series of related entries on this blog. When sorting through the recent journal article haul from the Journal of the History of Sexuality, this one jumped out at me as relating to the topic of classical Greek romance novels. I think it reads well as a pairing with the summary of the Babyloniaka from last week. Gorman takes a complex look at the various messages--both intentional and inadvertent--sent by using the Greek romance as a template for early Christian "adventure stories" um...that is...apocrypha. References to Boswell in the discussion here remind me that I still haven't yet covered either of his major works on same-sex relations in the context of early Christianity. If you want a reason beyond "there are a lot of publications and I haven't gotten to them yet" I think it would be equal parts annoyance at his blythe assumption that you can do all your research on men and wave your hands about how it applies to women, and the certainty that people looking for research sources for same-sex relations in that ear are unlikely to be unaware of Boswell's work. (There's also the complicating issue that many historians of sexuality in the early Christian period take issue with some of Boswell's arguments and conclusions.) I'll get to them. Eventually. In the mean time, hey, more wacky ancient Greek romance novels! This time with Christian theology!
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