\[ **up: [[History--Ancient]] | [[Civilisation and culture--Ancient]] | [[Civilisation and culture--Classical]] | [[Greece]]** ] --- # Civilisation and culture of ancient Greece ## Everyday life #### Child-rearing [[The Odyssey contains the first written reference (in the western world) to wet nurses; Odysseus was nursed by Evriklia.|The Odyssey contains the first written reference (in the western world) to wet nurses.]][^1] #### Love --- ### Men, women, and ‘hermaphrodites’ > N.B. *obligatory note that we don’t use the term ‘hermaphrodites’ to describe contemporary people, e.g. intersex folks.* - [[Plato on the creation of the biological sexes]] --- #### Women > “In the Greek medical tradition (which still echoes through our own) the explanation of sex differences centers mainly on a contrast in reproductive form and function from which other secondary differences arrive. Women’s health, constitution and behavior are often explicitly linked to their wombs, a distinct anatomical organ that men do not have; they cannot experience its sensations, though they can examine it. The kind of understanding thus reached by a male medical professional is objective, not subjective. The question arose in Greece whether such knowledge was truly adequate, or did male physicians need to consult women to reach a truly empathetic understanding of female experience and ailments?”[^2] --- #### Men ##### Normalisation of same-sex sexual behaviour [[“The Greeks set a very high value on physical beauty … In a society which approved and encouraged homosexual love affairs between men and youths, the beauty of adolescent boys was admired most of all.”]][^3] [[“The mentor-protégé relationship relationship between an older and a younger man could include homosexual love as an expression of the bond between the boy and the man, who would normally also be married.”]][^4] --- ### Mythology [[In Ancient Greek myth, the Milky Way was created from Hera’s (non-consensually used) breastmilk.|In Ancient Greek myth, the Milky Way was created from Hera’s (non-consensually used) breastmilk.]][^5] --- ## Literature ### Poetry #### *The Odyssey* [[The Odyssey contains the first written reference (in the western world) to wet nurses; Odysseus was nursed by Evriklia.]][^6] [^1]: M. Papasavrou, et al. ‘[[Papastavrou, et al. ‘Breastfeeding in the Course of History’, 2015.|Breastfeeding in the Course of History]]’, *Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatal Care* 2, issue 6 (8 September 2015), p. 2. [^2]: Francesca Bray, *[[Bray. 'Technology and Gender_ Fabrics of Power in Late Imperial China', 1997.|Technology and Gender: Fabrics of Power in Late Imperial China]]* (University of California Press, 1997), p. 315. [^3]: Harvey Alan Shapiro, ‘Mississippi 1977.3.103’, *[[Shapiro. 'Art, Myth, and Culture_ Greek Vases from Southern Collections', 1981.|Art, Myth, and Culture: Greek Vases from Southern Collections]]* (New Orleans Museum of Art, 1981; Perseus Digital Library, n.d.), https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0047:entry=19. [^4]: Thomas R. Martin, ‘Homosexuality and Mentorship’, *[[Martin. 'An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander', n.d.|An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander]]* (Perseus Digital Library, n.d.), TM OV 11.2.3. [^5]: M. Papasavrou, et al. ‘[[Papastavrou, et al. ‘Breastfeeding in the Course of History’, 2015.|Breastfeeding in the Course of History]]’, *Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatal Care* 2, Issue 6 (8 September 2015), p. 2. [^6]: M. Papasavrou, et al. ‘[[Papastavrou, et al. ‘Breastfeeding in the Course of History’, 2015.|Breastfeeding in the Course of History]]’, *Journal of Pediatrics & Neonatal Care* 2, issue 6 (8 September 2015), p. 2.