Daniel Smithson
HIS-321 (Ancient World of Greece & Rome)
Analysis Paper
Greek Culture / Society and Homosexuality

Greek Culture / Society and Homosexuality

By
Daniel Smithson

Southern New Hampshire University
HIS-321
Professor Charles Disantis

Daniel Smithson
HIS-321 (Ancient World of Greece & Rome)
Analysis Paper
Greek Culture / Society and Homosexuality
Ancient Greece:

The golden age of the Grecian empire said to span the years 500 to 300 BCE.

This time gave breath to the great philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. This was also the time of great playwrights such as Aristophanes, Sophocles and
Aeschylus.

How did the Greeks maintain familial ties in a culture with more sexual freedom and seemingly non-existent sexual stigma than today? Grecian Patriarchal Society:
Although the Grecian people valued family life, Greek society was stalwartly patriarchal in its social-political structure. The men of Greece coveted the aesthetic of the male form and enjoyed nude wrestling in the arena. Grecian men often shared what we today would call “Homoerotic” or “Homosexual” experiences, Indecorous witticisms illustrated in the compositions of Aristophanes and many other playwrights. Sexual fluidity among men was an intrinsic characteristic of Grecian society. In the Iliad Homer tells the story of Achilles, his unrelenting Rage, and his love for Patroclus. It has long been questioned whether or not The two men were romantically involved but characterization of their relationship fits will in the ancient Grecian social affectation, Paiderasteia (Not to be confused with the modern

Daniel Smithson
HIS-321 (Ancient World of Greece & Rome)
Analysis Paper
Greek Culture / Society and Homosexuality term Pederasty, which gets its misrepresented roots from this word.). Where older
(20 plus years of age) Married men whom were stable or a structure in society, would take younger men (between 13-19 years of age) as wards or squires. These relationship were always first approved by the young mans family and the young man, and more often romantic or sexual in nature, as well as educational. The practice of Paiderasteia was considered normal and healthy in Grecian society where the older man was meant serve as model for courage, virtue and wisdom; these young men would go on the marry women and father children just as with other Homosexual behavior because the Greeks believed that the male sexuality was fluid. In the patriarchal society, women were seen as property and meant only to carry on bloodlines. Although women in this society were treated well, they did not share the same respect as men. It was often considered that men with homosexual ties and the practice of Paiderasteia was necessary as men held higher station and had far greater affect on society than women. Men, of course, spent the majority of their time with other men, in social, political or militaristic gathering and environments. The company of women was not kept because women were not of station in society. So the idea of Male-Male relationship made sense in Grecian culture e.g. “Women were for making and nursing babes”.

Daniel Smithson
HIS-321 (Ancient World of Greece & Rome)
Analysis Paper
Greek Culture / Society and Homosexuality
Homosexuality in Grecian Art:

Many form of Grecian art depict the homosexual practices and ideals of the

Greeks, where men are taking part in nude wrestling (Which rules and form still exist today in collegiate and high school wrestling) as well as explicit sexual acts as in this image here depicting a group sex act.

And here we see a depiction of Paiderasteia.

Daniel Smithson
HIS-321 (Ancient World of Greece & Rome)
Analysis Paper
Greek Culture / Society and Homosexuality

And the same here where we see, naked young men tending to the older men.

Daniel Smithson
HIS-321 (Ancient World of Greece & Rome)
Analysis Paper
Greek Culture / Society and Homosexuality
This relief carving specifically depicting the touching of two male genitalia show seems to express the belief in the strength of Male-Male relationships.

Sources:
1. Kenneth Dover, . Greek homosexuality. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press (1978). Pages: viii, 4, 19, 31. 2. Louis Crompton, Homosexuality & civilization. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press (2003). . Chapter 4. 3. Thomas Hubbard, Homosexuality in Greece and Rome a sourcebook of basic documents. Berkeley [Calif.: University of California Press (2003). Chapter 5.