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Chapter 3 - Homoeroticism, Children, and the Making of Monks

from Part II - Representations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

Caroline T. Schroeder
Caroline T. Schroeder
Affiliation:
University of Oklahoma
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Summary

This chapter examines the construction of male sexuality in early Egyptian monasticism, focusing on the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Apophthegmata Patrum) and the rules from various monasteries. The masculine ascetic ideal builds upon certain classical ideals of masculinity, especially the control of the passions, but purports to eschew classical models of eroticism in which the adolescent male represents the ideal sexual partner. These sources are designed to be recited or retold as edifying texts; despite their overt disavowal of sexual contact between men and boys, their retelling and rereading keeps homoeroticism and the representation of boys as sexually desirable objects alive in the ascetic imagination.

Keywords

childrenasceticismmonasticismsexualityboysbodyyouthdesirehomoeroticismlate antiquity
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Chapter
Information
Children and Family in Late Antique Egyptian Monasticism , pp. 69 - 83
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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