SOURCE: Laiou, Angeliki E. “Sex, Consent, and Coercion in Byzantium.” In Consent and Coercion to Sex and Marriage in Ancient and Medieval Societies, edited by Angeliki E. Laiou, pp. 198-221. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1993.

In the following excerpt, Laiou examines Digenes Akrites for what it reveals about twelfth century laws regarding abduction and social attitudes concerning sexual consent.

What can literature contribute to an inquiry such as ours? If handled carefully, it can instruct us as to contemporary concerns and underlying attitudes. It can also be vastly misleading, for literature is not necessarily a reflection of reality, indeed it can be and often is a reversal of reality, and that too, if identified, is valuable information. But a straight reading of literary sources can lead us down a primrose path to lands that never were. Above all, one must remember that literature has...