You are here:
  1. Inicio
  2. Exhibition
  3. Themed Itineraries
  4. Queer Histories
  5. Eros between women

Eros between women

Floor 2, Room 36, Showcase 36.28. Artemis. The Pan Painter Amphora and Artemis the Huntress
Pulse para ampliar
Pulse para ampliar

We end the Greek leg of our journey in front of two representations of the goddess Artemis, one on a red-figured amphora and the other in the form of a terracotta figure. Artemis, protector of childhood, goddess of the moon and the hunt, had chosen not to have relations with men, but she had a retinue of young women with whom she shared deep emotional ties, which could at times be erotic in nature. The eroticism of these bonds becomes apparent in the myth of Callisto, a beautiful nymph who was part of the goddess' retinue. According to the myth, Zeus, infatuated with Callisto, adopted the form of Artemis to seduce the nymph, and lied with the young woman, who believed she was at that moment giving herself to the goddess.

The divine biography of Artemis is one of the few mythical voices that give us a glimpse of female homoeroticism, but it is not the only one. Lyric poetry has also left us some beautiful testimonies of eroticism between women. The most famous examples are found in the work of Sappho, where the poet expresses intense erotic feelings towards other women. The poet Alcman, in his Parthenias, also presents a chorus of adolescent women who express powerful feelings of attraction and desire towards the young Astumelousa, who is in charge of directing the chorus. Even the aforementioned Anacreon describes in one of his poems how a young woman rejects him while standing "open-mouthed" in front of another woman. All these poems, moreover, were not private compositions, but were intended to be sung publicly. Eroticism between women was thus never entirely invisible, even in the male-dominated Greek society.

Next Qr. Floor 1, Room 19, Showcase 19.3 >

Subir