
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sidestepping Orphic Pederasty in the Middle Ages Sidestepping Orphic Pederasty in the Middle Ages
-
Unnatural Unions and “Masculine” Love in the Ovide moralisé Unnatural Unions and “Masculine” Love in the Ovide moralisé
-
Other Medieval Responses to Orpheus: Gender Inversion and “Un-love” Other Medieval Responses to Orpheus: Gender Inversion and “Un-love”
-
Orpheus, “First Sodomite,” in Art Orpheus, “First Sodomite,” in Art
-
Orpheus with Lot’s Wife: Retro-vision and Gender Orpheus with Lot’s Wife: Retro-vision and Gender
-
Looking/Feeling Backward Looking/Feeling Backward
-
-
-
-
-
Cite
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the myth of Orpheus as it was mediated in medieval culture, with particular reference to Ovid’s discussion of Orpheus’s turn to “tender males” following his loss of Eurydice in the underworld. The chapter begins by interrogating the varied responses to the story in the Middle Ages. Orpheus’s pederastic turn provided some writers with opportunities to envision erotic possibilities that would otherwise remain unspeakable. One text, the verse Ovide moralisé, even interprets Orpheus’s devotion to homoerotic behavior as representing a virtuous rejection of the company of women. Visual images also confront Orpheus’s erotic inclinations cryptically, culminating in a famous drawing of the death of Orpheus by Albrecht Dürer. The chapter also considers the motif of “retro-vision” in the Orpheus legend, comparing Orpheus’s fate with that of Lot’s wife in the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom, who is also punished for the crime of looking back. The chapter concludes by considering recent attempts to rehabilitate the Orpheus myth in queer and feminist scholarship, and asks why today the legend of Orpheus the “first sodomite” appears to have fallen by the wayside.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2022 | 13 |
November 2022 | 5 |
January 2023 | 1 |
March 2023 | 5 |
April 2023 | 11 |
May 2023 | 2 |
August 2023 | 3 |
September 2023 | 3 |
October 2023 | 2 |
November 2023 | 2 |
December 2023 | 1 |
January 2024 | 6 |
February 2024 | 3 |
March 2024 | 3 |
May 2024 | 3 |
July 2024 | 1 |
August 2024 | 12 |
September 2024 | 2 |
October 2024 | 1 |
November 2024 | 6 |
December 2024 | 2 |
May 2025 | 2 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.