<p>Arising out of a conference on ‘<em>Erôs</em> in Ancient Greece’, the articles in this volume share a historicizing approach to the conventions and expectations of <em>erôs</em> in the context of the <em>polis</em>, in the Archaic and Classical periods of ancient Greece.</p><p>The articles focus on (post-Homeric) Archaic and Classical poetic genres – namely lyric poetry, tragedy, and comedy – and some philosophical texts by Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle.</p><p>They pursue a variety of issues, including: the connection between homosexual <em>erôs</em> and politics; sexual practices that fell outside societal norms (aristocratic homosexuality, chastity); the roles of <em>sôphrosynê</em> (self-control) and <em>akrasia</em> (incontinence) in erotic relationships; and the connection between <em>erôs</em> and other socially important emotions such as <em>charis</em>, <em>philia</em>, and <em>storgê</em>.</p><p>The exploration of such issues from a variety of standpoints, and through a range of texts, allows us to place <em>erôs </em>as an emotion in its socio-political context.</p>