The sex lives of saints : an erotics of ancient hagiography / Virginia Burrus.

Philadelphia, Pa. : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2004]

vi, 216 pages ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-208) and index.

Introduction: Hagiography and the history of sexuality -- Fancying hermits: sublimation and the arts of romance. The queer life of Paul the Hermit -- The queer marriage of Malchus the Monk -- Hilarion's last laugh -- Prolongations: Fantasies of a faun -- Reading (as) another, woman -- Dying for a life: martyrdom, masochism, and female (auto)biography. Praising Paula -- Remembering Macrina -- Confessing Monica -- Testimony to (woman's) survival -- Fragments of an autobiography -- Hybrid desire: empire, sadism, and the soldier saint. Domination and submission in the life of Martin -- Sulpicius's passion -- The hagiographer, the ethnographer, and the native -- Witnessing ambivalence -- Secrets of seduction: the lives of holy harlots. The lamb, the wolf, and the fool: Mary, niece of Abraham -- Seduction of the eye: Pelagia of Antioch -- Sacrifice in the desert: Mary of Egypt -- The joy of harlotry -- Postscript (Catching my breath).