In classical antiquity, writers such as Herodotus,
Plato, Xenophon, Athenaeus and many others
explored aspects of homosexuality in ancient
Greece. The most widespread and socially significant
form of same-sex sexual relations in ancient
Greece was between adult men and pubescent
or adolescent boys, known as pederasty (marriages
in Ancient Greece between men and women were
also age structured, with men in their thirties
commonly taking wives in their early teens).
Though sexual relationships between adult
men did exist, at least one member of each
of these relationships flouted social conventions
by assuming a passive sexual role. It is unclear
how such relations between women were regarded
in the general society, but examples do exist
as far back as the time of Sappho.The ancient
Greeks did not conceive of sexual orientation
as a social identifier as modern Western societies
have done. Greek society did not distinguish
sexual desire or behavior by the gender of
the participants, but rather by the role that
each participant played in the sex act, that
of active penetrator or passive penetrated.
This active/passive polarization corresponded
with dominant and submissive social roles:
the active (penetrative) role was associated
with masculinity, higher social status, and
adulthood, while the passive role was associated
with femininity, lower social status, and
youth.
== Pederasty ==
The most common form of same-sex relationships
between males in Greece was "paiderastia"
(pederasty) meaning "boy love". It was a relationship
between an older male and an adolescent youth.
A boy was considered a "boy" until he was
able to grow a full beard. In Athens the older
man was called erastes. He was to educate,
protect, love, and provide a role model for
his eromenos, whose reward for him lay in
his beauty, youth, and promise.
The roots of Greek pederasty lie in the tribal
past of Greece, before the rise of the city-state
as a unit of political organization. These
tribal communities were organized according
to age groups. When it came time for a boy
to embrace the age group of the adult and
to "become a man," he would leave the tribe
in the company of an older man for a period
of time that constituted a rite of passage.
This older man would educate the youth in
the ways of Greek life and the responsibilities
of adulthood.The rite of passage undergone
by Greek youths in the tribal prehistory of
Greece evolved into the commonly known form
of Greek pederasty after the rise of the city-state,
or polis. Greek boys no longer left the confines
of the community, but rather paired up with
older men within the confines of the city.
These men, like their earlier counterparts,
played an educational and instructive role
in the lives of their young companions; likewise,
just as in earlier times, they shared a sexual
relationship with their boys. Penetrative
sex, however, was seen as demeaning for the
passive partner, and outside the socially
accepted norm. In ancient Greece, sex was
generally understood in terms of penetration,
pleasure, and dominance, rather than a matter
of the sexes of the participants. For this
reason, pederasty was not considered to be
a homosexual act, given that the ‘man’
would be taking on a dominant role, and his
disciple would be taking on a passive one.
When intercourse occurred between two people
of the same gender, it still wasn’t entirely
regarded as a homosexual union, given that
one partner would have to take on a passive
role, and would therefore no longer be considered
a ‘man’ in terms of the sexual union.An
elaborate social code governed the mechanics
of Greek pederasty. It was the duty of the
adult man to court the boy who struck his
fancy, and it was viewed as socially appropriate
for the younger man to withhold for a while
before capitulating to his mentor's desires.
This waiting period allowed the boy to ensure
that his suitor was not merely interested
in him for sexual purposes, but felt a genuine
emotional affection for him and was interested
in assuming the mentor role assigned to him
in the pederastic paradigm.The age limit for
pederasty in ancient Greece seems to encompass,
at the minimum end, boys of twelve years of
age. To love a boy below the age of twelve
was considered inappropriate, but no evidence
exists of any legal penalties attached to
this sort of practice. Traditionally, a pederastic
relationship could continue until the widespread
growth of the boy's body hair, when he is
considered a man. Thus, the age limit for
the younger member of a pederastic relationship
seems to have extended from 12 to about 17
years of age.The ancient Greeks, in the context
of the pederastic city-states, were the first
to describe, study, systematize, and establish
pederasty as a social and educational institution.
It was an important element in civil life,
the military, philosophy and the arts. There
is some debate among scholars about whether
pederasty was widespread in all social classes,
or largely limited to the aristocracy.
=== In the military ===
The Sacred Band of Thebes, a separate military
unit reserved only for men and their beloved,
is usually considered the prime example of
how the ancient Greeks used love between soldiers
in a troop to boost their fighting spirit.
The Thebans attributed to the Sacred Band
the power of Thebes for the generation before
its fall to Philip II of Macedon, who was
so impressed with their bravery during battle,
he erected a monument that still stands today
on their gravesite. He also gave a harsh criticism
of the Spartan views of the band:
"Perish miserably they who think that these
men did or suffered aught disgraceful."Pammenes'
opinion, according to Plutarch, was that
"Homer's Nestor was not well skilled in ordering
an army when he advised the Greeks to rank
tribe and tribe... he should have joined lovers
and their beloved. For men of the same tribe
little value one another when dangers press;
but a band cemented by friendship grounded
upon love is never to be broken."These bonds,
reflected in episodes from Greek mythology,
such as the heroic relationship between Achilles
and Patroclus in the Iliad, were thought to
boost morale as well as bravery due to the
want to impress and protect their lover. Such
relationships were documented by many Greek
historians and in philosophical discourses,
as well as in offhand remarks such as Philip
II of Macedon's recorded by Plutarch demonstrates:
"It is not only the most warlike peoples,
the Boeotians, Spartans, and Cretans, who
are the most susceptible to this kind of love
but also the greatest heroes of old: Meleager,
Achilles, Aristomenes, Cimon, and Epaminondas."During
the Lelantine War between the Eretrians and
the Chalcidians, before a decisive battle
the Chalcidians called for the aid of a warrior
named Cleomachus (glorious warrior). He answered
their request, bringing his lover to watch.
Leading the charge against the Eretrians he
brought the Chalcidians to victory at the
cost of his own life. The Chalcidians erected
a tomb for him in the marketplace in gratitude.
It is said that one of the most noble things
is to give one's own life to save their lover.
Although this did not occur during the Lelantine
War example it was still a heroic act for
Cleomachus and even a perfect time to show
his lover his selfless ways.
== Gender representations in Greek theatre
==
The gender representations in Greek theatre
was that of the stereotypical roles within
Ancient Greece. Men were sought to be manipulative,
powerful, had control over their own freewill,
and control over their surroundings. Women
were expected to be contained to the house
and to do all the house work. They were also
expected to produce offspring and act modestly.
In the play "The Bacchae", the gender roles
becomes evident in how the characters within
the play are written and perceived. The women,
or better known in the play as the Bacchae,
are manipulated by the god named Dionysus.
Dionysus is a strong and witty male character
within the play and is written to easily manipulate
the women due to this. In the same play, when
the women start to gain control over themselves,
they are perceived to be "wild" and "loose".
The Greek men viewed the women in this state
with both fear and anxiety.
== Love between adult men ==
Given the importance in Greek society of cultivating
the masculinity of the adult male and the
perceived feminizing effect of being the passive
partner, relations between adult men of comparable
social status were considered highly problematic,
and usually associated with social stigma.
This stigma, however, was reserved for only
the passive partner in the relationship. According
to contemporary opinion, Greek males who engaged
in passive anal sex after reaching the age
of manhood – at which point they were expected
to take the reverse role in pederastic relationships
and become the active and dominant member
– thereby were feminized or "made a woman"
of themselves. There is ample evidence in
the theater of Aristophanes that derides these
passive men and gives a glimpse of the type
of biting social opprobrium and shame ("atimia")
heaped upon them by their society. Regardless
of the opprobrium homosexual behavior was
common among men of all classes despite the
protocols and conventions surrounding it,
Hubbard, op. cit. p. 7.
=== Achilles and Patroclus ===
The first recorded appearance of a deep emotional
bond between adult men in ancient Greek culture
was in the Iliad (800 BC). Homer does not
depict the relationship between Achilles and
Patroclus as sexual. The ancient Greeks emphasised
the supposed age difference between the two
by portraying Patroclus with a beard in paintings
and pottery, while Achilles is cleanshaven,
although Achilles was an almost godlike figure
in Greek society. This led to a disagreement
on whom to make the erastes and whom the eromenos,
since the Homeric tradition made Patroclus
out to be older but Achilles stronger. Other
ancients held that Achilles and Patroclus
were simply close friends.
Aeschylus in the tragedy Myrmidons made Achilles
the protector since he had avenged his lover’s
death even though the gods told him it would
cost his own life. However, the character
of Phaedrus in Plato's Symposium asserts that
Homer emphasized the beauty of Achilles, which
would qualify him, not Patroclus, as “eromenos”.
== Sapphic love ==
Sappho, a poet from the island of Lesbos,
wrote many love poems addressed to women and
girls. The love in these poems is sometimes
requited, and sometimes not. Sappho is thought
to have written close to 12,000 lines of poetry
on her love for other women. Of these, only
about 600 lines have survived. As a result
of her fame in antiquity, she and her land
have become emblematic of love between women.
In addition to being a poet, Sappho was the
head of what was known as a thiasos. Thiasoi
were communities of women in which Greek women
could receive a limited form of education.
Critically, however, girls in these communities
also experienced same-sex love, sometimes
for their mistresses (Sappho writes of her
love for various students of hers) and sometimes
for each other. As the polis evolved, however,
marriage came to be an integral instrument
for the organization of the culture, and women
were confined to their houses; the thiasoi
were no more. Girls were taught from their
infancies that it was their duty and destiny
in life to give their love to the men who
would one day be their husbands. Female-female
love had no place within the constraints of
this new social organization.
Pedagogic erotic relationships are also documented
for Sparta, together with athletic nudity
for women. Plato's Symposium mentions women
who "do not care for men, but have female
attachments". In general, however, the historical
record of love and sexual relations between
women is sparse.
== Scholarship and controversy ==
After a long hiatus marked by censorship of
homosexual themes, modern historians picked
up the thread, starting with Erich Bethe in
1907 and continuing with K. J. Dover and many
others. These scholars have shown that same-sex
relations were openly practised, largely with
official sanction, in many areas of life from
the 7th century BC until the Roman era.
Some scholars believe that same-sex relationships,
especially pederasty, were common only among
the aristocracy, and that such relationships
were not widely practised by the common people
(demos). One such scholar is Bruce Thornton,
who argues that insults directed at pederastic
males in the comedies of Aristophanes show
the common people's dislike for the practice.
Other scholars, such as Victoria Wohl, emphasize
that in Athens, same-sex desire was part of
the "sexual ideology of the democracy," shared
by the elite and the demos, as exemplified
by the tyrant-slayers, Harmodius and Aristogeiton.
Even those who argue that pederasty was limited
to the upper classes generally concede that
it was "part of the social structure of the
polis".Considerable controversy has engaged
the scholarly world concerning the nature
of same-sex relationships among the ancient
Greeks described by Thomas Hubbard in the
Introduction to Homosexuality in Greece and
Rome, A Source Book of Basic Documents, 2007,
p. 2: "The field of Gay Studies has, virtually
since its inception, been divided between
'essentialists' those who believe in an archetypical
pattern of same gender attraction that is
universal, transhistorical, and transcultural,
and "social constructionists," those who hold
that patterns of sexual preference manifest
themselves with different significance in
different societies and that no essential
identity exists between practitioners of same-gender
love in, for instance, ancient Greece and
post industrial Western society. Some social
constructionists have even gone so far as
to deny that sexual preference was a significant
category for the ancients or that any kind
of subculture based on sexual object-choice
existed in the ancient world," p. 2 (he cites
Halperin and Foucault in the social constructionist
camp and Boswell and Thorp in the essentialist;
cf. E. Stein for a collection of essays, Forms
of Desire: Sexual Orientation and the Social
Constructionist Controversy, 1992). Hubbard
states that "Close examination of a range
of ancient texts suggests, however, that some
forms of sexual preference were, in fact,
considered a distinguishing characteristic
of individuals. Many texts even see such preferences
as inborn qualities and as "essential aspects
of human identity..." ibid. Hubbard utilizes
both schools of thought when these seem pertinent
to the ancient texts, pp. 2–20.
During Plato's time there were some people
who had "the audacity to say" that homosexual
sex was shameful in any circumstances. Indeed
Plato himself eventually came to hold this
view. At one time he had written that same-sex
lovers were far more blessed than ordinary
mortals. He even gave them a headstart in
the great race to get back to heaven, their
mutual love refeathering their mottled wings.
Now he seemed to contradict himself. In his
ideal city, he says in his last, posthumously
published work known as The Laws, homosexual
sex will be treated the same way as incest.
It is something contrary to nature, he insists,
and although there won't be laws against it,
nevertheless a propaganda programme will encourage
everyone to say that it is "utterly unholy,
odious-to-the-gods and ugliest of ugly things.The
subject has caused controversy in most of
modern Greece. In 2002, a conference on Alexander
the Great was stormed as a paper about his
homosexuality was about to be presented. When
the film Alexander, which depicted Alexander
as romantically involved with both men and
women, was released in 2004, 25 Greek lawyers
threatened to sue the film's makers, but relented
after attending an advance screening of the
film.
== See also ==
Greek love
Homosexuality in ancient Rome
Homosexuality in the militaries of ancient
Greece
LGBT rights in Greece
Malakia
The Sacred Band of Stepsons
== Notes ==
== Literature ==
Andrew Calimach, Lovers' Legends: The Gay
Greek Myths, New Rochelle, Haiduk Press, 2002,
ISBN 978-0-9714686-0-3
Cohen, David, "Law, Sexuality, and Society:
The Enforcement of Morals in Classical Athens."
Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-521-46642-3.
Lilar, Suzanne, Le couple (1963), Paris, Grasset;
Translated as Aspects of Love in Western Society
in 1965, with a foreword by Jonathan Griffin,
New York, McGraw-Hill, LC 65-19851.
Dover, Kenneth J. Greek Homosexuality. Vintage
Books, 1978. ISBN 0-394-74224-9
Halperin, David. One Hundred Years of Homosexuality:
And Other Essays on Greek Love. Routledge,
1989. ISBN 0-415-90097-2
Hornblower, Simon and Spawforth, Antony, eds.
The Oxford Classical Dictionary, third edition.
Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-866172-X
Hubbard, Thomas K. Homosexuality in Greece
and Rome.; University of California Press,
2003. [1] ISBN 0-520-23430-8
Percy, III, William A. Pederasty and Pedagogy
in Archaic Greece. University of Illinois
Press, 1996. ISBN 0-252-02209-2
Thornton, Bruce S. Eros: the Myth of Ancient
Greek Sexuality. Westview Press, 1997. ISBN
0-8133-3226-5
Wohl, Victoria. Love Among the Ruins: the
Erotics of Democracy in Classical Athens.
Princeton University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-691-09522-1
== External links ==
Pederasty and Pedagogy In Archaic Greece
Ancient Greek Homosexuality
Generally speaking, sexuality in Ancient Athens
was well recorded. These ancient artifacts
tell the entire story in pictures.
