Post by decadence on Dec 26, 2005 8:25:42 GMT -5
Homosexuality in Ancient Greece: More Than Just a Bunch of Dirty Old Men
Here in the twenty-first century, it is the most common belief that homosexuality in Ancient Greece was limited to the older, married man (teacher) and the young boy (student). While this view is a partially correct summation of the situation, it is not by any means the only expression of same-sex relationships, if not love, among the Ancient Greeks.
"Love", we use the word all the time. We say we love our brothers and sisters. We say we love our parents. We say we love our significant others. We use the same word for each instance of our feeling of love for the people in our lives. In reading the tales, dissertations, and myths of the ancient Greeks, we see the translation of the word "love". Plato talks about the love between two men in the Phaedra and the Symposium. In the Greek language there are four different words to express the emotion of love: filios, agape, eros, and pederastia. Filios is a brotherly, or as we would call it today "platonic", love. Agape is a transcendental love, most often used in a Christian context as in "God's love transcends our discretions". Eros is erotic, sexual love. The word pederastia comes from two other Greek words meaning "boy" and "to love". It denoted a "spiritual and sensual affection for a boy" (Fone 5). As attested by Plato in the Symposium, these relationships often lasted until death, and were not the short term, apprentice type relationships we are led to believe. It also bears noting that in the Greek sense 'boy' did not confer the meaning of a child as it does today. Rather, it was a young man between 16 and the early 20's (Fone 5). The modern word in the English language that is rooted in this ancient Greek word is pederasty. In ancient Greece the word, and the very idea, did not have the predatory connotations of today. It was encouraged. It was a noble and honorable thing, the very existence of which would encourage men to act more nobly and honorable lest their lover be shamed by their actions.
For although homosexuality was a current practice in ancient Greece, the Dorians alone held it to be "the closest intimate relationship that can exist between two comrades of the same sex. From this emanated, in all their plenitude, the noblest impulses in striving for personal perfection, emulating others, and making the most absolute gift of oneself to the beloved, whatever the danger and even unto death, in the very springtime of life. Thus the true ideal of martial comradeship and lofty aspiration were realized in these pederastic couples."(Levi 16)
The Sacred Band of Thebes was the pinnacle in Gay history in the tradition of heroism, and the greatness of love between men. Assembled by Gorgidas, this group of men attached to the Theban army was comprised of three hundred pairs of male lovers. Every reference to the Band points out the Greek awareness that a fighting force of men bound to each other by love, will fight more valiantly; in order not only to defend one's own life and that of one's beloved, but to also not shame him by turning cowardly. In the face of danger and death, members of The Sacred Band would stand by their legally and spiritually bonded mates to their own deaths. Obviously, these men would have been fully matured and in the prime of their lives to be in the military. Even the Ancients understood the preposterousness of sending their children and old men to war. The Sacred Band was an elite force for many years. It was at the Battle of Mantinea in 362 B.C.E that the Band and the army of Thebes defeated the Spartans. The Band earned and maintained its reputation of being undefeatable until the battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C.E. This was the first major battle in the military career of Alexander the Great. Alexander's father, Philip of Macedon, after surveying the battle field at the conclusion of the fighting was so moved by the bravery of these men that he said, "Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything that was base" (ethassite.freewebsites.com).
It bears saying that the amount of information available about The Sacred Band of Thebes is limited. Some scholars have said that Philip's words after the battle of Chaeronea preclude the idea that the Band were Gay. It is unfortunate that this is the case. Most accounts of the Battle of Chaeronea recount that the Band was killed to a man. To dismiss this valiant group of Gay men is to dishonor them. It has become apparent to me through my research that homosexuality as we think of it today was not the same thing to the Ancient Greeks.
The Ancient Greeks understood that homosexuality was then, as it is now, simply a matter of the nature of some men. The English word "love" falls short in its expression of this most basic emotion. Translation of the four Greek words for love is complicated by the limitations of the English language's ability to express love. Though largely hidden from history, The Sacred Band of Thebes was not an exception to the deep, passionate, and sexual love bonds that some men are drawn to form with each other.
Works Cited
Etha's Website. The Battle of Chaeronea. 23 November 2001
Fone, Byrne R. S., ed. Hidden Heritage: History and the Gay Imagination An Anthology New York: Avocation Publishers Inc. 1980
Levi, Giovanni and Schmitt, Jean-Claude, ed. A History of Young People in the West. Vol 1. Trans. Camille Naish. Cambridge: Harvard University press, 1997
Additional References
Dover, K. J. Greek Homosexuality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978
Downing, Christine. Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love. Continuum: New York 1989
E. Bethe. "Die Dorische Knabenliebe, Ihre Ethik und Idee." Rheinisches Museum 62 1907: 438-475
www.15grant.com/mchoward/greece.html
Here in the twenty-first century, it is the most common belief that homosexuality in Ancient Greece was limited to the older, married man (teacher) and the young boy (student). While this view is a partially correct summation of the situation, it is not by any means the only expression of same-sex relationships, if not love, among the Ancient Greeks.
"Love", we use the word all the time. We say we love our brothers and sisters. We say we love our parents. We say we love our significant others. We use the same word for each instance of our feeling of love for the people in our lives. In reading the tales, dissertations, and myths of the ancient Greeks, we see the translation of the word "love". Plato talks about the love between two men in the Phaedra and the Symposium. In the Greek language there are four different words to express the emotion of love: filios, agape, eros, and pederastia. Filios is a brotherly, or as we would call it today "platonic", love. Agape is a transcendental love, most often used in a Christian context as in "God's love transcends our discretions". Eros is erotic, sexual love. The word pederastia comes from two other Greek words meaning "boy" and "to love". It denoted a "spiritual and sensual affection for a boy" (Fone 5). As attested by Plato in the Symposium, these relationships often lasted until death, and were not the short term, apprentice type relationships we are led to believe. It also bears noting that in the Greek sense 'boy' did not confer the meaning of a child as it does today. Rather, it was a young man between 16 and the early 20's (Fone 5). The modern word in the English language that is rooted in this ancient Greek word is pederasty. In ancient Greece the word, and the very idea, did not have the predatory connotations of today. It was encouraged. It was a noble and honorable thing, the very existence of which would encourage men to act more nobly and honorable lest their lover be shamed by their actions.
For although homosexuality was a current practice in ancient Greece, the Dorians alone held it to be "the closest intimate relationship that can exist between two comrades of the same sex. From this emanated, in all their plenitude, the noblest impulses in striving for personal perfection, emulating others, and making the most absolute gift of oneself to the beloved, whatever the danger and even unto death, in the very springtime of life. Thus the true ideal of martial comradeship and lofty aspiration were realized in these pederastic couples."(Levi 16)
The Sacred Band of Thebes was the pinnacle in Gay history in the tradition of heroism, and the greatness of love between men. Assembled by Gorgidas, this group of men attached to the Theban army was comprised of three hundred pairs of male lovers. Every reference to the Band points out the Greek awareness that a fighting force of men bound to each other by love, will fight more valiantly; in order not only to defend one's own life and that of one's beloved, but to also not shame him by turning cowardly. In the face of danger and death, members of The Sacred Band would stand by their legally and spiritually bonded mates to their own deaths. Obviously, these men would have been fully matured and in the prime of their lives to be in the military. Even the Ancients understood the preposterousness of sending their children and old men to war. The Sacred Band was an elite force for many years. It was at the Battle of Mantinea in 362 B.C.E that the Band and the army of Thebes defeated the Spartans. The Band earned and maintained its reputation of being undefeatable until the battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C.E. This was the first major battle in the military career of Alexander the Great. Alexander's father, Philip of Macedon, after surveying the battle field at the conclusion of the fighting was so moved by the bravery of these men that he said, "Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything that was base" (ethassite.freewebsites.com).
It bears saying that the amount of information available about The Sacred Band of Thebes is limited. Some scholars have said that Philip's words after the battle of Chaeronea preclude the idea that the Band were Gay. It is unfortunate that this is the case. Most accounts of the Battle of Chaeronea recount that the Band was killed to a man. To dismiss this valiant group of Gay men is to dishonor them. It has become apparent to me through my research that homosexuality as we think of it today was not the same thing to the Ancient Greeks.
The Ancient Greeks understood that homosexuality was then, as it is now, simply a matter of the nature of some men. The English word "love" falls short in its expression of this most basic emotion. Translation of the four Greek words for love is complicated by the limitations of the English language's ability to express love. Though largely hidden from history, The Sacred Band of Thebes was not an exception to the deep, passionate, and sexual love bonds that some men are drawn to form with each other.
Works Cited
Etha's Website. The Battle of Chaeronea. 23 November 2001
Fone, Byrne R. S., ed. Hidden Heritage: History and the Gay Imagination An Anthology New York: Avocation Publishers Inc. 1980
Levi, Giovanni and Schmitt, Jean-Claude, ed. A History of Young People in the West. Vol 1. Trans. Camille Naish. Cambridge: Harvard University press, 1997
Additional References
Dover, K. J. Greek Homosexuality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978
Downing, Christine. Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love. Continuum: New York 1989
E. Bethe. "Die Dorische Knabenliebe, Ihre Ethik und Idee." Rheinisches Museum 62 1907: 438-475
www.15grant.com/mchoward/greece.html
