Myths and Mysteries of Same Sex Love - Softcover

Christine Downing is professor of religious studies emerita at San Diego State University and a former core faculty member of the California School of Professional Psychology. She is the author of The Goddess, Journey Through Menopause, Psyche?s Sisters, Women?s Mysteries, and Gods in Our Midst.

Downing's book is a critical analysis of same-sex love throughout history, an attempt to discover hidden information about homosexuality. She shows that "homosexuality" is in fact an illusion, a category poorly defined by 19th-century psychologists. By analyzing the writings of Freud, Jung, Foucault, and others, Downing draws surprising conclusions that add up collectively to a far different historical picture of lesbians and gay men than the one we assume. She notes, for instance, that "Freud's own writings reveal a rather different understanding of homosexuality than that usually attributed to psychoanalysis." Downing concludes by examining the dynamics of same-sex love between Greek deities and discussing the homoerotic content of works by Plato and Sappho. Though specialized, a useful work for general collections.
- Kevin M. Roddy, Oakland P.L., Cal.
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