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Kathy-L.-Gaca-The-Making-Of-Fornication-Eros-Ethics-And-Political The Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature In honor of beloved Virgil— “O degli altri poeti onore e lume . .” —Dante, Inferno The Making of Fornication HELLENISTIC CULTURE AND SOCIETY General Editors: Anthony W. Bulloch, Erich S. Gruen, A. A. Long, and Andrew F. Stewart I. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, by Peter Green II. Hellenism in the East: The Interaction of Greek and Non-Greek Civilizations from Syria to Central Asia after Alexander, edited by Amélie Kuhrt and Susan Sherwin-White III. The Question of “Eclecticism”: Studies in Later Greek Philosophy, edited by J. M. Dillon and A. A. Long IV. Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State, by Richard A. Billows V. A History of Macedonia, by R. Malcolm Errington, translated by Catherine Errington VI. Attic Letter-Cutters of 229 to 86 b.c., by Stephen V. Tracy VII. The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World, by Luciano Canfora VIII. Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind, by Julia Annas IX. Hellenistic History and Culture, edited by Peter Green X. The Best of the Argonauts: The Redefinition of the Epic Hero in Book One of Apollonius’ Argonautica, by James J. Clauss XI. Faces of Power: Alexander’s Image and Hellenistic Politics, by Andrew Stewart XII. Images and Ideologies: Self-definition in the Hellenistic World, edited by A. W. Bulloch, E. S. Gruen, A. A. Long, and A. Stewart XIII. From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire, by Susan Sherwin-White and Amélie Kuhrt XIV. Regionalism and Change in the Economy of Independent Delos, 314–167 b.c., by Gary Reger XV. Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 b.c., by Robert Kallet-Marx XVI. Moral Vision in The Histories of Polybius, by Arthur M. Eckstein XVII. The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor, by Getzel M. Cohen XVIII. Interstate Arbitrations in the Greek World, 337–90 b.c., by Sheila L. Ager XIX. Theocritus’s Urban Mimes: Mobility, Gender, and Patronage, by Joan B. Burton XX. Athenian Democracy in Transition: Attic Letter-Cutters of 340 to 290 b.c., by Stephen V. Tracy XXI. Pseudo-Hecataeus, “On the Jews”: Legitimizing the Jewish Diaspora, by Bezalel Bar-Kochva XXII. Asylia: Territorial Inviolability in the Hellenistic World, by Kent J. Rigsby XXIII. The Cynics: The Cynic Movement in Antiquity and Its Legacy, edited by R. Bracht Branham and Marie-Odile Goulet-Cazé XXIV. The Politics of Plunder: Aitolians and Their Koinon in the Early Hellenistic Era, 279–217 b.c., by Joseph B. Scholten XXV. The Argonautika, by Apollonios Rhodios, translated, with introduction, commentary, and glossary, by Peter Green XXVI. Hellenistic Constructs: Essays in Culture, History, and Historiography, edited by Paul Cartledge, Peter Garnsey, and Erich Gruen XXVII. Josephus’s Interpretation of the Bible, by Louis H. Feldman XXVIII. Poetic Garlands: Hellenistic Epigrams in Context, by Kathryn J. Gutzwiller XXIX. Religion in Hellenistic Athens, by Jon D. Mikalson XXX. Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition, by Erich S. Gruen XXXI. The Beginnings of Jewishness, by Shaye D. Cohen XXXII. Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria, by Frank L. Holt XXXIII. Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora from Alexander to Trajan (323 bce– 117 ce), by John M. G. Barclay XXXIV. From Pergamon to Sperlonga: Sculpture and Context, edited by Nancy T. de Grummond and Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway XXXV. Polyeideia: The Iambi of Callimachus and the Archaic Iambic Tradition, by Benjamin Acosta-Hughes XXXVI. Stoic Studies, by A. A. Long XXXVII. Seeing Double: Intercultural Poetics in Ptolemaic Alexandria, by Susan A. Stephens XXXVIII. Athens and Macedon: Attic Letter-Cutters of 300 to 229 b.c., by Stephen V. Tracy with an introduction and commentary by Richard Hunter XXXIX. Encomium of Ptolemy Philadelphus, by Theocritus, translated with an introduction and commentary by Richard Hunter XL. The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy and Early Christianity, by Kathy L. Gaca XLI. Cultural Politics in Polybius’ Histories, by Craige Champion XLII. Cleomedes on the Heavens: Physics and Astronomy in Later Stoicism, A Translation of Cleomedes’ Caelestia, by Robert B. Todd and Alan C. Bowen XLIII. History as It Should Have Been: Third Maccabees, Historical Fictions, and Jewish Self-Fashioning in the Hellenistic Period, by Sara Raup Johnson XLIV. Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions, by Frank L. Holt The Making of Fornication Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy and Early Christianity Kathy L. Gaca UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2003 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gaca, Kathy L. The making of fornication : eros, ethics, and political reform in Greek philosophy and early Christianity / Kathy L. Gaca. p. cm. — (Hellenistic culture and society ; 40) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-520-23599-1 (cloth : alk. paper). 1. Sex—Religious aspects— Christianity—History of doctrines. 2. Philosophy, Ancient—Influence. 3. Sexual ethics—History. I. Title. II. Series. bt708 .g33 2003 241Ј.66Ј09015—dc21 2002012604 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 10987654 321 The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlo- rine-free (TCF). It meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). ᭺ϱ For you, my readers, Jonathan first of all Great and hardly unknown among mortals I am the goddess named Cypris, Aphrodite . Those who worship my power I honor And whoever disdains me I ruin. euripides, Hippolytus 1–6 Demonic gods do not die easily. tatian, Oratio 15.14 contents acknowledgments / xiii abbreviations / xvii 1. Introduction: Ancient Greek Sexual Blueprints for Social Order /1 part i. greek philosophical sexual reforms 2. Desire’s Hunger and Plato the Regulator /23 3. Crafting Eros through the Stoic Logos of Nature /59 4. The Reproductive Technology of the Pythagoreans /94 part ii. greek biblical sexual rules and their reworking by paul and philo 5. Rival Plans for God’s Sexual Program in the Pentateuch and Paul / 119 6. From the Prophets to Paul: Converting Whore Culture into the Lord’s Veiled Bride / 160 7. Philo’s Reproductive City of God / 190 part iii. patristic transformations of the philosophical, pauline, and philonic rules 8. Driving Aphrodite from the World: Tatian and His Encratite Argument / 221 9. Prophylactic Grace in Clement’s Emergent Church Sexual Ethic / 247 10. The Fornicating Justice of Epiphanes / 273 11. Conclusion: The Demise of Greek Eros and Reproduction / 292 bibliography / 307 index / 337 acknowledgments My research for this book was generously supported by doctoral fellowships from the University of Toronto Classics Department, a grant from the Amer- ican Association of University Women, the Hannah Seeger Davis Postdoc- toral Fellowship in Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, and a fall-term sabbatical leave from the College of Arts and Science and the Classical Stud- ies Department at Vanderbilt University. Books, like drama, involve a strong element of the collective endeavor. I am happy to recognize and to bring onstage, as it were, the many colleagues, friends, readers, family members, and librarians who have helped make this production possible. Jonathan Bremer has provided wonderful intellectual camaraderie, sup- port, and love while at the same time being one of my most intelligent and critical readers. He is peerless at giving warm hugs and sagacious advice. John Rist, Howard Jacobson, and Tim Barnes have been scholarly mod- els to emulate, John for his philosophical acumen and conviction that his- tory is of significant concern in dealing with ethics, Tim for improving my skills at historiography, and Howard for showing why the fields of classics and Greek biblical studies belong together. Howard inspired my interest in classics from the first Latin declension, and has remained an important mentor since then. I am most grateful to the three of them. Peter Brown, Tony Long, and John Dillon have taken a sustained interest in this project. Each of them offered perceptive comments that have made this study more coherent and lucid. Elizabeth Asmis and Brad Inwood like- wise read the manuscript or portions thereof at various stages in its prog- xiii xiv acknowledgments ress, Brad on several occasions. Their thoughtful comments have helped me improve various arguments considerably. Dimitri Gondicas, Alexander Nehamas, and other members of the Pro- gram in Hellenic Studies at Princeton University provided a stimulating in- tellectual environment and gracious hospitality during my postdoctoral year of research with the Program. Faculty members of Princeton’s Depart- ment of Classics, including Elaine Fantham, Ruth Webb, Richard Martin, and Froma Zeitlin, further enhanced my stay by encouraging me to partic- ipate in departmental colloquia and lectures. My colleagues in the Classical Studies Department at Vanderbilt Univer- sity have nurtured my development as a scholar. Robert Drews and Susan Ford Wiltshire in particular recognized the import of this project. They and my other colleagues, Chris Brunelle, Carter Philips, Tom McGinn, Dan Solomon, and Barbara Tsakirgis, were always a great audience when I pre- sented various sections of this work during our informal colloquia. My grat- itude also to Dennis Hall for Vanderbilt University’s partial funding of the book cover. Other scholars, editors, and readers provided very helpful comments on portions of this work. They include David Runia, Mimi Bonz, Roger Shiner, Elizabeth Adkins, Johan Thom, Graham Gould, Vernon K. Robbins, A.-J. Levine, and Hugh Mason. It has also been a great pleasure and privilege to work with the editorial staff of the University of California Press.
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