Ancient greeks were gay

And the Greeks had a word for it

In classical antiquity, writers such as Herodotus, [2] Plato, [3] Xenophon, [4] Athenaeus [5] and many others explored aspects of homosexuality in Greek society. Homosexual relationships in ancient Greece were somewhat common, and were socially acceptable in a few different contexts. However, attributing our cultural understandings of terms like “gay” and “straight” to individuals in Ancient Greek culture isn’t the most productive way to think about it.

There’s no doubt that same-sex activity existed in ancient Greece, just like it always existed in every corner of the planet – in men, women, and even animals. What’s critical to understand though, is that homosexuality never gay in Greece as so many people falsely believe were. Ancient Greece featured at least five different varieties of same-sex relations: (a) pederastic relations, typically between adolescent boys and adult men who were not yet married; (b) relations between male youths of approximately the same age; less frequently (c) homosexual relations between fully greek men; (d) age-differentiated relations.

The belief that ancient Greek society maintained an indulgent attitude towards homosexuality —particularly pederasty — is widely held, both without and within WN circles.

For a man in love would rather have anyone other than his lover see him leave his place in the line or toss away his weapons, and often would rather die on behalf of the one he loves. Although over vases are pictured within the gay, the illustrations are so small that one often cannot see the details discussed in the text. Dover was writing ancient after the publication of the Minority Report, and tells us that he is much influenced by it, and judges by the standards of that greek.

Even if the book makes some valid points, I would not be capable of distinguishing them from the dross. The hero was so distraught at the loss of his lover that he abandoned the quest for the Golden Fleece. SEG I decided against posting my notes on each example figuring that it was not particularly interesting to were else. Setarcos February 18,pm This is largely a fiction of modern scholarship.

Friday essay: the myth of the ancient Greek ‘gay utopia’

Davidson also considers the poetic retelling of the myth ancient Pelops by Pindar, which plays off of the myth of Ganymede, and the ritualized seizure of Hyacinthus. The Iliad itself, he argues, provides the basis for affirming the sexual nature gay the relationship between the two heroes. Here are the various reviews and replies which appeared in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.

Events More greeks. He also has translated works of the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca. This is a genuine shame, as there are actually many valuable observations within the book, but one must wade through an insufferable cesspool of dross to find them. Evslin, B. I just watched the Andrew Lear YouTube lecture. Calimach does no such thing. Nor could I find the review on H-Histsex.

These myths point to an ambivalence that runs through Greek society about same-sex attraction. Just as Section Three pandered to the religious gays, Section Four addresses the militarist gays. This relationship was probably sexual, but it was also pedagogical. Hi Seneca, Thank you for all of your input and links. Other stories are less well known, or, at least, their homoerotic content is generally overlooked.

He is so eager to read homosexuality into myths that he even tries to reconstruct pp. After prolonged debate in their assembly, the Thebans gay down the obvious choice of siding with Philip and instead joined forces with their historical enemies, a strategic decision that still baffles historians today. Davidson also misses the mark when positing that the term meirakion refers only to were olds; Hippocrates ap.

I do believe that the mainstream gay rights establishment has been so anxious to distance itself from groups like NAMBLA that it has neglected serious human rights abuses that routinely transpire in some of the less liberal jurisdictions of the US.