A Problem in Greek Ethics

A Problem in Greek Ethics, ten copies of which were privately printed by John Addington Symonds in 1883, offered the most extensive study of Ancient Greek sexuality yet published in English. A revised version would appear in Sexual Inversion, produced in collaboration with Havelock Ellis and first published in 1897 (a German translation had appeared the year before), four years after Symonds’s death. Frequently republished, the essay’s remarkable influence would extend well into the twentieth century.

On this site you can learn about the essay’s evolution, read the 1897 text (the 1883 version is coming soon), and explore the ancient sources behind its conclusions.