In ancient Greece, were gay men considered feminine??
The Lambda is the symbol of the Gay community for a reason: This Greek letter was adopted by the Gay Activist Alliance in 1970 as a symbol of the gay movement. An ancient Greek regiment of warriors who carried a flag emblazoned with the lambda marched into battle with their male lovers. The group was noted for their fierceness and willingness to fight until death. It became the symbol of their growing movement of gay liberation. In 1974, the Lambda was subsequently adopted by the International Gay Rights Congress held in Edinburgh, Scotland. As their symbol for lesbian and gay rights, the Lambda has become internationally popular.
Not at all. Read Plato. It was almost a must for a cultured man to have a gay lover to initiate him – in the old/young combination (Pederast, pede standing for the older educational half). In the citystate of Sparta it was encouraged, as segments of the army existing of gay couples seemed very succesful (more motivation, more bravery, more showing off too, and also more hatred towards the enemy if one of the couple was killed or cornered). Then again, it must have depended on the level of society you were in. As always we only know a bit and then only of the higher, educated parts.
Some were some were not. In most Greek societies (and important to keep in mind that they varied greatly) there were some pretty strict if unofficial rules. Here are a few. Promiscuity was frowned upon. In fact the young male was to have sex with only one older male and not to have other partners. The younger man was to be submissive. Anal sex was frowned upon. The younger man was supposed to be attractive or very attractive and should be of the upper class, especially if the older man was. The relationship was supposed to be based upon something akin to mentor-ship first and foremost. To break these rules could lead to a loss in social status for the younger man. He may well have been unable to marry in his social class. To be exclusively homosexual was damaging to ones social status, bisexuality would be the proper term, and family and the raising of children was to supersede these bisexual relationships. To break too many of these unofficial rules could lead to a social status simil
The idea of the exclusively homosexual male is a late nineteenth century concept, and the Greeks did not have it, although they did eventually come to recognize that some men were more attracted to men than to women. They considered all men to be bisexual, and bisexuality was institutionalized in some classical Greek societies. Sparta, as an example, was a society ruled by a warrior caste. Boys of the warrior caste were raised together in a barracks apart from women and encouraged to form close attachments. The idea is quite simple and logical; if you have a close bond to the men you’re fighting with, you don’t want to see them die, and you’ll fight harder. This is in line with other ancient European societies, such as the Celts. If christianity had not been imposed by the ruling elite as a means of control much of Europe would have probably been openly accepting of homosexuality throughout its history. With the decline in christianity in northern Europe, due to the reassertion of the
A few of the above posters have a great misconception about homosexuality in ancient Greece and undoubtedly do not study history. It was not ‘normal’ in the modern sense of the term homosexuality. Pederastic relationships were common among the upper classes–meaning a relationship between an older man and a younger boy. The boys were considered ‘feminine’ to a point because it was before puberty and thus they were ‘smooth-faced’ (before the ability to grow a beard). When the boy reached maturity he was expected to leave the pederastic relationship, take a wife, raise children, and then when he reached middle-age (around 40) he would take a boy as a lover himself. It was a ‘rite of passage’ in ancient Greek culture, a man teaching the boy the nature of sex. ‘Homosexual’ relations between two older males was usually looked down upon. The passive partner in the relationship was considered feminine and a stereotypical passive man was often mocked in contemporary literature (satires). One m
