Pathologies of Love in Classical Literature

Book excerpt: Do you believe in love at first sight? The Greeks and the Romans certainly did. But far from enjoying this romantic moment carefree, they saw it as a cruel experience and an infection. Then what are the symptoms of falling in love? Are there any remedies? Any form of immunity? This book explores the conception of love (erôs) as a physical, emotional, and mental disease, a social-ethical disorder, and a literary unorthodoxy in Greek and Latin literature. Through illustrative case studies, the contributors to this volume examine two distinct, yet historically and poetically interrelated traditions of ‘pathological love’: lovesickness as/similar to disease and deviant sexuality described in nosologic terms. The chapters represent a wide range of genres (lyric poetry, philosophy, oratory, comedy, tragedy, elegy, satire, novel, and of course medical literature) and a fascinating synthesis of methodologies and approaches, including textual criticism, comparative philology, narratology, performance theory, and social history. The book closes with an anthology of Greek and Latin passages on pathological erôs. While primarily aimed at an academic readership, the book is accessible to anyone interested in Classics and/or the theme of love.