The 'regiment of pleasure' : Cavafy and his homoerotic legacy in Greek writing
Cavafy has been the key inspiration of a line of younger â and very different â Greek writers who employ homoerotic modes. This thesis, covering the years 1905-2010, concentrates on some major examples (Sikelianos, Lapathiotes, Ritsos, Ioannou, Christianopoulos) chosen for their variety of responses to the homoerotic Cavafy. In aggregate these writers, along with Cavafy himself, can be considered a âregimentâ: the âRegiment of Pleasureâ, in Cavafyâs term. In presenting these writers in this fashion, I attempt to illuminate both the work of the successors and that of their influential precursor. In the three broad yet selective chapters that constitute the main body of my thesis, I seek to display the culture-specific elements of the Modern Greek contribution to homoerotic writing, as these can be extrapolated from a critical examination of the poetic legacy of Cavafy, within three themes: Chapter 1, âThe Appropriation of Ancient Greek Erosâ, delineates the ways in which modern Greek homoerotic writing exploits Greek Love in Plato (Symposium and Phaedrus) and the Palatine Anthology. Chapter 2, âHomoeroticism and the Notion of Sinâ, approaches literary homoeroticism as associated with sinfulness
Skordi, Ioanna
The 'regiment of pleasure' : Cavafy and his homoerotic legacy in Greek writing. Cavafy has been the key inspiration of a line of younger â and very different â Greek writers who employ homoerotic modes. This thesis, covering the years 1905-2010, concentrates on some major examples (Sikelianos, Lapathiotes, Ritsos, Ioannou, Christianopoulos) chosen for their variety of responses to the homoerotic Cavafy. In aggregate these writers, along with Cavafy himself, can be considered a âregimentâ: the âRegiment of Pleasureâ, in Cavafyâs term. In presenting these writers in this fashion, I attempt to illuminate both the work of the successors and that of their influential precursor. In the three broad yet selective chapters that constitute the main body of my thesis, I seek to display the culture-specific elements of the Modern Greek contribution to homoerotic writing, as these can be extrapolated from a critical examination of the poetic legacy of Cavafy, within three themes: Chapter 1, âThe Appropriation of Ancient Greek Erosâ, delineates the ways in which modern Greek homoerotic writing exploits Greek Love in Plato (Symposium and Phaedrus) and the Palatine Anthology. Chapter 2, âHomoeroticism and the Notion of Sinâ, approaches literary homoeroticism as associated with sinfulness
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