Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-320) and index.
Contents
Sexuality and emasculation, or longing for paradise -- In the beginning were the gods -- "Sacred kingship" and its consequences -- Eunuchs in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds -- The emperor of China and his eunuchs -- "Chastity of the angels" sexuality in early Christianity -- From the origins of Islam to the Topkapi Seraglio -- Emasculated heroes of the western middle ages -- From the "waning of the middle ages" to the the witch trials of the early modern period -- Voices of the angels : the papal castrati and the birth of opera.