Gender

How gender and sexualities are interconnected with religion, and how religion influences individuals’ sexual life, is a topic that has been explored from a variety of theoretical approaches. Each term of this conceptual triad has been object of debate, since each theory and discipline, from the history of religion to feminism, can define them differently. Without daring to condense the historiography of theories on gender and religion in a short essay, this overview will focus on whether using transcultural theoretical paradigms for illuminating a given historical context, that is an ancient Mediterranean culture, is a valid intellectual enterprise. It will try to recall some questions that are cross-culturally relevant as well as to highlight a selection of themes and data specific to the context of ancient societies, with a major attention to the Greek-speaking world from the Classical to the Imperial period. A key question will be whether and in what ways issues of gender were relevant to the ancient religious reality.