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Articles on Ancient Greece

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The love story of Psyche and Eros − also known as Cupid − has survived since the days of Rome and Greece. Bettman via Getty Images

Love may be timeless, but the way we talk about it isn’t − the ancient Greeks’ ideas about desire challenge modern-day readers, lovers and even philosophers

Conventional stereotypes about romance portray it as a passionate, irrational game. Ancient philosophers, on the other hand, viewed love as something dangerous − but also enlightening.
A painting from the ancient Egyptian tomb of Niankhkhum and Khnumhotep, royal servants whom some scholars have interpreted to be lovers. kairoinfo4u/Flickr

Ancient texts depict all kinds of people, not just straight and cis ones – this college course looks at LGBTQ sexuality and gender in Egypt, Greece and Rome

Writing about same-sex relationships and gender beyond a strict male-female binary was more common in ancient Greece and Rome than students assume, a scholar writes.
An incantation bowl with an Aramaic inscription around a demon from Nippur, Mesopotamia. Wikimedia Commons

‘I gave birth but did not bring a child to life’: for millenia, women expressed their pain through a belief in demonic, female monsters

From snake-like creatures with claws to jealous virgin ghosts, female monsters have long been a part of women’s lore. Such figures were Intimately tied to childbirth, sexuality and child mortality.
‘Rhetoric’ has a bad rap – but some of the original rhetoricians’ techniques can actually help foster productive conversations. smartboy10/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

‘Rhetoric’ doesn’t need to be such an ugly word – it has a lot to teach echo-chambered America

Ancient Greek philosophers despised the Sophists’ rhetoric because it searched for relative truth, not absolutes. But learning how to do that thoughtfully can help constructive debates.

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