Thursday, September 25, 2008

Paper on IV Maccabees: Leads--Homosexuality

Someone suggested to me that the Jewish objection to Jason's gymnasium in the second century B.C.E. might have related to homosexuality that was occurring there. I found an Internet site that claims this: First Maccabees - Marriage and Giving in Marriage. The site itself is ideologically charged, but it refers to other articles. It sites Johansson and Percy:34, but it doesn't tell me what book. But these guys have written about homosexuality in encyclopedias, so maybe they're worth checking out. The other article is Patrick G.D. Riley, Homosexuality & the Maccabean Revolt, New Oxford Review (September 1997). He teaches classical civilization at Concordia University of Wisconsin, so perhaps he offers some evidence.

I may look more into this tomorrow, or some time thereafter. Tomorrow, I'll be picking up more books at the library about Israel and Hellenism. I'm beat right now. I'll read through some French and German, watch an episode of Lost, and go to bed.