ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I deal with sexual relations between instructors and their pupils in Roman Antiquity by studying three different dossiers. First, I study schools, which were sometimes viewed by the ancient writers as places of sexual tension. After this, I offer an extensive list of cases, carefully taking into account the different sorts of educators and teachers mentioned. In this, Greek resonances and influences appear to be of great importance. A following section deals with the Milesian Tale on the Pergamene Youth, a remarkable story in Petronius’s Satyrica, which crystalises, as it were, Greek and Roman views on the issue. In the concluding section, I point to the importance of the father figure, the ambiguous status of educators, and to intimate friendships—three factors that are indispensable to take into account if one would like to approach the topic in a historically appropriate way.
