Sex, Gender, And Sexuality In Greek Art

Art is commonly used to research and understand historical cultures, such as the Greeks. This includes how sex, gender, and sexuality played a part in their culture. This however can be grossly misunderstood because much of Greek art was designed for a specific audience and was not typically used to depict areas of society that were ‘taboo’. McNiven, in his except Sex, Gender, and Sexuality, explains how sex, gender, and sexuality were defining by Greek art and the reality behind such. Using Greek art to understand its culture however can be a tricky task due to ancient Greek artists not depicting daily life, but rather the persona they wanted to portray. A literal interpretation of society may be due to the believable realism and naturalism present in Greek works. For example, the Athenian red-figure kylix, Lovemaking, is often misunderstood as lovemaking between a husband and a wife. However, if using social imaginary, one realizes this is on a drinking pot often used at symposion, where women were often there to entertain men with music, food, and sex. Therefore, Greek art cannot be taken at face value. Although naturalism and realism are used often to describe Greek art, this was often not the case. My favorite example mentioned was the Parthenon frieze. All the men designed were perfect bodied young men draped in beautiful robes. Looking closer at the piece it is clear that many of the young men are actually nude, and although these young men have perfectly chiseled