Celibacy in the Ancient World: Its Ideal and Practice in Pre-Hellenistic Israel, Mesopotamia, and Greece

610 Pages·2010·2.41 MB·English

by  Dale Launderville OSB

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ISBN: 978-0-8146-5734-8
Dale Launderville, osb
CelibaCy
in the ancient World
Its Ideal and Practice
in Pre-Hellenistic Israel,
Mesopotamia, and Greece
A Michael Glazier Book
LITURGICAL PRESS
Collegeville, Minnesota
www.litpress.org
A Michael Glazier Book published by Liturgical Press
Cover design by David Manahan, OSB. Cover photo: Bronze sculpture, Visionary
Man, © Gautier Willaume and istockphoto.com
© 2010 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, mi-
crofiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means,
known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews,
without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey,
PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States
of America.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Launderville, Dale.
Celibacy in the ancient world : its ideal and practice in pre-hellenistic
Israel, Mesopotamia, and Greece / Dale Launderville.
p. cm.
“A Michael Glazier book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8146-5697-6 — ISBN 978-0-8146-5734-8 (e-book)
1. Jeremiah (Biblical prophet) 2. Celibacy—History.
3. Chastity—History. I. Title.
BS580.J4L38 2010
204'.47—dc22 2010016697
Dedicated to my grandparents Edwin and Marie Madsen
and Vincent and Marie Launderville for their profound love
of family life.
Contents
Preface xv
Introduction xix
Chapter One: Sexual Restraint Within the Context
of a Cosmic Household 1
Israel: A Summons to Covenantal Fidelity for Collective
Integrity in Ezekiel 16 2
Collective Jerusalem: From Canaanite Foundling to
Royal Wife of Yhwh 6
Adulterous Jerusalem: Narcissistic Autonomy and an
Excessive Sex Drive 12
The Punishment and Purgation of Defiled
Jerusalem 17
Restored Jerusalem: Shame over Past Infidelities 20
Summary 23
Mesopotamia: A Vision for Communal Integrity in a
Mythical Tradition 23
Gender and Collective Identity: Hierarchy versus
Partnership 24
Channeling the Sex Drive Toward the Creation of
Community 28
The Holiness of Inanna/Ishtar: The Fixed Point for a
Paradoxical Deity 32
The Dynamics of Boundary Formation in the Forging of
Sexual Identity 41
Summary 44
v
vi Contents
Greece: Engaging Shared Emotion to Foster Wholeness
Within the Polis 45
Facing the Irrational Within Collective Existence 45
The Sex Drive Within the Cosmic Household as an
Ambiguous Generative Force 52
The Sacred Character of Family Relationships 61
Overcoming Tragedy Through Compassion and
Commitment 64
Summary 66
Synthesis: Bodily Integrity in a Monolatrous Model
Contrasted with That in a Polytheistic Model 68
The Expression of Collective Identity and the
Maintenance of Integrity 68
The Sex Drive as a Form of Physical and
Cultural Power 70
The Requirement of Sexual Constraint in the Encounter
with the Holy 71
The Dynamics of Boundary Formation in the Forging
of Sexual Identity 72
Chapter Two: intermarriage: a Threat to the Household
as the enduring Matrix of Personal identity? 74
Israel: Intermarriage as the Clash of Religious Cultures
in Yehud 75
Ezra’s Intrusive Leadership: A Paradoxical Form
of Heroism 77
The Organic Character of the Israelite Household 80
The Pressure of the State System on the Household 91
Summary 96
Mesopotamia: Intermarriage as an Element in the Evolution
of Urban Culture 97
The Hero’s Battle to Bring Genealogy and Local Tradition
to a New Synthesis 100
The Organic Character of the Hereditary Mesopotamian
Household 101
Imperial Pressure on the Mesopotamian Household in
the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods 112
Summary 122
Contents vii
Greece: Intermarriage as a Threat to Democratic Development
in Athens 123
Pericles: A Champion of Democratic Athens on the
Basis of Its Imperial Power 124
Property, Inheritance, and Intimacy Within the Greek
Household 129
City-State and Household: Synergy or
Compromise? 139
Summary 144
Synthesis: Maintaining the Cultural Integrity of the Household
in Times of Transition 144
Purging a Community to Maintain Traditional Values:
A Manipulative Ideology or a Heroic Vision? 145
Property and Relationships: Two Constitutive Elements
of the Embodied Character of the Household 146
The Incorporation of the Household into the City-State:
A Pathway to Death or to Life After Death? 148
Chapter Three: Sex and the Holy: erotic Synergy or Warfare? 150
Erotic Experience: Its Basic Terminology in Ancient Israel,
Mesopotamia, and Greece 153
Israel: The Challenge of Searching for the Source of Life
in the Right Place 155
Y hwh as the Divine Husband and Father 155
Sex and Knowledge of the Divine: Compatible
or Incompatible? 164
Erøs and the Maintenance of the Sacred Boundaries
of the Israelite Household 171
Summary 176
Mesopotamia: Sexuality as a Life-force Spanning
the Cosmos 178
The Role of the Erotic Within the Pantheon 178
The Relationship between Sex and Knowledge in the
Epic of Gilgamesh 191
Erøs and the Maintenance of the Sacred Boundaries of
the Mesopotamian Household 197
Summary 199
viii Contents
Greece: Erøs of the Body Versus Erøs of the Soul 202
Erøs: A God or a Demiurge Within the Ancient Greek
World? 202
Erøs as the Desire to Possess the Beautiful
and the Good 212
Erøs and the Maintenance of the Sacred Boundaries
of the Greek Household 218
Summary 221
Synthesis: Transmuted Sex and the Erotic Desire for the
Divine 223
The Presence and Function of the Erotic Within the
Divine Realm 224
The Relationship Between Sex and Knowledge 226
Erøs and the Sacred Boundaries of Person and
Household 228
Chapter Four: Virginity and Chastity: Feminine ideals integral to
the Patriarchal Household 230
Definition of Virginity 231
Israel. Virginity: Commitment to the Common Good
or to the Patriarchal Good? 235
Virginity as a Sign of Individual and Communal
Integrity 235
Virginity and Bodily Wholeness 239
Male Sexual Constraint: An Understated Practice 242
The Purpose of the Sacrifice of Virginity 246
Summary 252
Mesopotamia. Virginity: An Alternative Lifestyle Compatible
with the Patriarchal Household 253
The Expectation of Premarital Virginity for Women 254
Protection of a Wife or Daughter: The Ideal of Bodily
Wholeness for Women 257
An Old Babylonian Community of Celibate Women:
The Nadiåtum of Sippar and Nippur 261
Male Sexual Constraint: A Concern for Boundaries 270
Summary 271
Contents ix
Greece. Virginity: Negotiating an Ideal Within the Limits of
the Human Condition 273
The Reception of the Prohibition of Premarital Sex for
Women 274
The Ideal Virginity of the Goddesses Hestia, Athena,
and Artemis 277
Sexual Defilement: The Violation of Communal and
Personal Boundaries 282
Chastity and the Ideal of Male Virginity 286
Summary 292
Synthesis: The Role of Virginity in Maintaining Bodily
Integrity 293
The Protection of Women and the Integrity of the
Community 294
Pollution as “Matter Out of Place” and as Diminishment
of Control 295
Gender Equity: Female Virginity Versus Male
Constraint 296
The Patriarchal Household: An Institution Constrained
by the Human Condition or a Source
of Exploitation? 297
Chapter Five: Composite Guardian Figures:
Tension at the Cosmic Junctures 300
Israel: Balancing of the Human, Bestial, and Divine Aspects
of Life Through the Integration of Heart and Mind 307
The Primal Human in Ezekiel 28: The Composite
Guardian Figure in Eden 308
The Asexual Primal Human in Genesis 2 as an
Inadequate Image of the Divine 311
Eunuchs and Prohibited Mixtures in Ancient Israel 320
Summary 323
Mesopotamia: Composite Mythic and Human Figures
as Mediators of Integrative Divine Power 325
Mesopotamian Primordial Androgynous Figures as
Symbols of the Unity of Humanity 326
Socialization into the Categories of Sex and Gender 329