Listen to this amazingly interesting and powerful episode of The Arch and Anth Podcast about queer and trans identities in the ancient world! #TransArchaeology
“Today, Johnny Miller (The University of Tennessee, Knoxville) talks about his research looking at gender and sexual identities in the ancient Mediterranean. Johnny’s studies are concentrated on the Cult of Cybele, or, according to the Romans, Cybele was considered the Magna Mater (“Great Mother”). Worship of her spread into the Roman world from the east, and her priests (the Galli) castrated themselves upon entering her service. Why did they do this and what was the socioreligious function of worshipping Cybele? While our conceptions of transgender identity likely cannot be extrapolated to accurate understandings of gender in classical times, what can we say about gender identity (or other aspects of identity like sexual identity) in the early historical period? You can find more information in the show notes under the episode on our website. You can e-mail the podcast address if you have any questions or feedback for Johnny, and find Michael Rivera on Twitter and Instagram as well. The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page. If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.”
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