It’s A Sin: The Ancient Origins of Homophobia (feat. Harry Tanner)

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Welcome to the wild and infuriating world of ancient homophobia!

You know how everyone thinks ancient Greece and Rome were queer free-for-alls, where all holes were goals (as long as you were a male, bisexual top) and pederasty was the only acceptable form of same-sex love between men?

Yeah, well that's not quite the full story.

We're thrilled to introduce to the podcast Harry Tanner, the author of The Queer Thing About Sin: Why the West Came to Hate Queer Love. Harry joins us to discuss his fascinating research into the Greek, Hebrew, Roman, and Christian origins of homophobia.

We cover:

• The story of two gay lovers overthrowing Athens' last tyrant
• Ancient Greece's porn pot industry (Onlyfans, but make it ceramic!)
• The real meaning of Leviticus and the story of Sodom & Gomorrah in the ancient Hebrew Torah
• The surprisingly homophobic writings of small-time philosophers like friggin' PLATO and ARISTOTLE
• And, for our Patreon subscribers, a deeper dive into the STRAIGHT historian who bequeathed us our current, warped view of ancient Greek homosexuality

If you were ever told that homosexuality or queerness is "unnatural," this episode is required listening for you.

Because we show how homophobia, like homosexuality, is simply a social and cultural construction. As Harry Tanner explains, it is a response to political and economic instability. A desire for control. That's the only human thing about it.

Same-sex desire occurs naturally in every society and culture in history. But condemning it only seems to happen when there is profound economic inequality in those societies.

Get ready to dive into this fascinating story of homophobia's ancient history.

The chastity cages are mandatory and the water is a preposterously inviting...human temperature.

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Episode Credits

Written and hosted by Bash

Edited by Alex Toskas

Produced by Dani Henion

Guest: Dr. Harry James Tanner

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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