Happy Pride Month!
Here is a selection of posts I’ve made on topics pertaining to LGBT+ history. Bear in mind that some of these were written quite some time ago, when I was less well informed than I am now, and I might word them differently in hindsight. I hope they’re still interesting enough and show that LGBT+ people existed in the ancient world too.
- On Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship
- Homosexuality in the Ancient Near East (including a link to a conference)
- Lesbian and bisexual Ancient Greek poetry
- An Ancient Greek transgender person (cw: potential misgendering due to contradictions in how the person refers to themself)
- Inanna’s genderqueer priesthood
- How to write your name in cuneiform as a nonbinary person
- Artemis as an aromantic asexual in ancient texts
For the Ancient Near East specifically, I highly recommend @mostlydeadlanguages who has a queer history tag full of interesting content.
Also, here are a few novels set in the Late Bronze Age, and one in the Iron Age, which feature same-sex attracted characters. Sadly, I’m not aware of any with characters of other LGBT+ identities (let me know if you have some recommendations!). Note that I haven’t read all of them, so I can’t vouch for their quality.
- The Troy series by David Gemmell (two women, one man)
- The Boudica series by Manda Scott (apparently multiple men)
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (two men)
- Circe by Madeline Miller (multiple men)
- I The Sun by Janet Morris (two men; cw for sexual abuse of women)
- The Amazon Chronicles by Jane E. M. Robinson (apparently at least one woman)