The book is filled with stories of male love from the Greek myths and legends and is illustrated by beautiful photographs of actual statues, pottery and friezes depicting male love. The audio CD of the stories is narrated by Timothy Carter, a classically trained actor from New York. His deep, sexy voice is the perfect storyteller of these fantastic stories filled with love, lust, beauty, betrayal, fury and violence. This is the perfect gift for all lovers of myth and folktales, or someone who needs a gay history lesson.
— The Liberty Press
"The accompanying CD is surprisingly effective. Carter has a good voice and an obvious understanding of the material."
— Brøn Thorson, www.xfactor.com more
"Calimach succeeded in rendering the spirit of
the originals in prose fresh and unfusty."
— The Guide more
"Lover's Legends Unbound is an interesting read and a more interesting listen."
— ASHÉ more
This is not Bullfinch's The Age of Fable or Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces. These are the Greek myths as you have never read them before, with all the homoerotic content restored that puritanical scholars have censored over the last several millennia. Lover's Legends Unbound demonstrates how important love between men was to the ancient Greeks, some of whose most important legends centered on homosexual affairs between men and gods. For readers unfamiliar with mythology, this book offers an easily accessible introduction. At the same time, mythology buffs will appreciate the clarity it lends to the old familiar tales. The accompanying CD, with Timothy Carter interpreting the stories backed by the music of Steve Gorn, is surprisingly effective. Carter has a good voice and an obvious understanding of the material which enhances his performance of it. The book and CD together are unquestionably worth investing in.
— Brøn Thorson, www.xfactor.com back
Love Divine
Hot Greek action for eyes & ears
"Two-point-five millennia ago this month, lacking VCR or Hollywood holiday
blockbuster, a grecian youth might have huddled around a fire with the
menfolk keeping warm in the Attic chill to hear stories of the gods-- the
racy ones. Thanks to the new CD/book combo Lovers' Legends Unbound (Haiduk
Press, $25), this scene can be reproduced around the fireplace/radiator in
your living room (Greek youth sold separately). This new recording and book
is based on Andrew Calimach's Lover's Legends, a reconstruction of the
Greek myths relating to male love published last year. Piecing together the
Greek myths from the varied versions in what was essentially an oral
tradition isn't easy, but Calimach succeeded in rendering the spirit of
the originals in prose fresh and unfusty. Now with Lovers' Legends Unbound,
some of these classic tales are brought to voice. "I am impressed,"
declares sex historian Vern L. Bullough. "It is a work of great devotion,
and scholarly as well." Images of homoerotic Greek art collected for the
accompanying book are sure to delight the eye as well. The readings, by
Timothy Carter, have a PBSy, Masterpiece-Theaterish basso profundity. The
accompanying solo flute (original compositions by Steve Gorn) strike apt
notes-- flute-playing to the Greeks having seamy connotations kin to those
Ravel's Bolero enjoys today. It's a perfect musical accompaniment to the
proto-Hollywoody tales of obsession, kidnap, dismemberment, murder,
cannibal- ism, and other manifestations of divine, outta-control
homosexuality-- all the better to highlight for impressionable Greek minds
the ideal of a regulated and reasoned one."
— The Guide back
Lovers’ Legends Unbound is a companion edition to Calimach’s previous book, Lovers’ Legends: The Gay Greek Myths. In that volume Calimach revisited well-known characters from Greek myth and uncovered previously ignored aspects of same-sex love and its influence on Greek social, moral and spiritual teachings. These myths, ‘by turn heroic, cautionary or shamanic, always maintain the dignified cadence of ancient epic, …that self-indulgence, betrayal, and violence are to be despised, and that love is the highest good.’
Calimach draws upon these myths for Lovers’ Legends Unbound which is accompanied by an audio CD read by actor Timothy Carter and punctuated with occasional flute by Steve Gorn. There are nine tales including new insights into male love not just from the expected such as Narcissus but the mighty Zeus and Hercules. There is even a glimpse into the gay side of the Trojan War with Achilles and Patroclus.
The audio CD provides a useful route into the spirit of the stories which would originally have been spoken rather than read. There is strength in the silence between the words which stands out to the modern ear, more used to fast-cuts and sound effects. Steve Gorn’s flute is used sparingly and helps produce an atmosphere all the more evocative. Sometimes more interesting than the myths themselves is how we have become unaccustomed to listening to stories in this way, of the attention required to accurately understand the spoken word without supporting devices. It is a rewarding exercise to listen deeply and to experience the odd calm that it brings.
Lovers’ Legends Unbound is an interesting read and a more interesting listen. Calimach’s rediscovery of the gay elements to Greek myth is useful for the casual reader and as an instructional tool for gender and classical studies.
—Joseph Gelfer, ASHÉ back
