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International Gay & Lesbian Review

The Crucifixion of Hyacinth: Jews, Christians and Homosexuals from Classical Greece to Late Antiquity

by Geoff Puterbaugh
abstract

Craig Loftin

This book explores sexual intolerance during the rise of Christianity. Puterbaugh begins with Greek society, arguing that the rise of Christianity, despite good intentions, coincided with the rise of “homophobia, religious intolerance, fanaticism, barbarism,” and anti-scientific attitudes that defined late Antiquity. Unlike previous historians who have either ignored sexual issues in this period (such as Edward Gibbon) or disassociated Christianity with sexual intolerance (John Boswell in Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality), Puterbaugh directly attributes the rise of monotheistic thought, mainly Christianity, towards anti-sexual and anti-gay attitudes prevalent for centuries.

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International Gay & Lesbian Review
Los Angeles, CA