ABSTRACT
The introduction to Between Byzantine Men starts with Nikephoros Ouranos, an important political figure and writer from about the year 1000. An erotically frank letter to one of his male friends starts this conversation on same-sex desire in these elite men’s circles. This discussion is followed by presentation of the methodology of the book, i.e., it is interested in reparative readings that (1) look for connection, desire, and happy affect and (2) posit high levels of education that allow us now to analyze texts for subtexts. Following is consideration of the negative legal and ecclesiastical situation around sex between men in Byzantium and a reading of portions of the Life of Mary the Younger that have interesting and sexy relations among the men in it. The upshot of all this is that Byzantium is a place of colliding discourses around sex and desire between men. The stage is set for the rest of the book.
