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In ancient Greece, an eromenos was the younger and passive (or 'receptive') partner in a male homosexual relationship. The partner of an eromenos was the erastes, the older and active partner. The eromenos was often depicted as beautiful, beardless and more youthful-looking than the erastes.
Erômenos (ἐρώμενος) means 'one who is sexually desired' in Greek language and is the past participle of the verb eramai, to have sexual desire. In Greek Homosexuality , the first modern scholarly work on this topic, Kenneth Dover used the literal translation of the Greek word as an English word to refer to the passive partner in Greek homosexual relationship. Though in many contexts the younger man is also called pais, 'boy', the word can also be used for child, girl, son, daughter and slave, and therefore eromenos would be more specific and can "avoid the cumbrousness and…imprecision of 'boy'". [1] It is in contrast to the masculine active participle erάn ('be in love with...', 'have a passionate desire for'). [1] The word erastes (lover), however, can be adapted to a married man's role in both heterosexual and homosexual relationship.
In vase paintings and other artworks, the eromenos is often depicted as a beautiful young adult. His relatively smaller stature suggests his passive role in the relationship and younger age as well as social status. Usually, they show a combination of a youthful-looking face with a body which possesses mature musculature. The lack of beard and pubic hair are an important clue in identifying an eromenos, though this may possibly be attributed to style. A poem quoted in Greek Sexuality (couplet 1327f) shows that ‘the poet will never cease to ‘fawn on’ the boy so long as the boy's cheek is hairless. [1]
His specific age is a nuanced issue for the eromenos, and the writer Strato put it:
Therefore, we can conclude that eromenos is not a fixed term, as it is only a stage in the development of young Greek men. After they grow up, their relationship with the erastes could end and they could get married or start another relationship. This experience, similar to some forms of socially-constructed bisexuality, is also shown in books, such as how Bion the Borysthenite condemns Alcibiades, that in his adolescence he drew away the husbands from their wives, and as a young man the wives from their husbands. [3] According to Garrison, for Cretan boys, the passage to adulthood is the ‘prewedding’ of sex with a mature man. [4]
The image of Ganymede in the figure on the right is an idealized portrait of an eromenos. The muscles on his body contrasts with the hoop, a child's toy which emphasises the shape of his genitals and inner thighs, and he holds the cockerel, which is the love gift from Zeus. There is no moustache or pubic hair.
John Beazley's three types of erotic scenes appear in Athenian vase paintings. Eromenoi are often touched on chin and genitals by their erastes (alpha group), presented with gifts (beta group) or entwined between the thighs of their erastes (gamma group). [5] Meanwhile, Eva Cantarella discovered that representations of pederastic relationships contain two successive moments of courtship. The first phase is similar to Beazley's alpha group, while in the second phase the eromenos stands behind the erastes with his penis between his thighs, somehow similar to the gamma group. [6] This vase (Brygos Painter) depicts a classical scene of an erastes courting an eromenos. As the eromenos’ legs are positioned between the erastes’ thighs with the erastes touching his penis and his chin, it is similar to the alpha group. The pectoral and belly muscles show that he was well-trained in wrestling schools, and the bag of ‘Kydonian apples’ or quinces is a sign of his sexual awakening. [4]
Dover and Gundel Koch-Harnack have argued that the gift-giving scene to the eromenos is in fact a courting scene. [5] Common gifts include a sprig of flowers, a rabbit, and a fighting cock. [7]
The love for an eromenos is a frequent topic in Ancient Greek poems. Dover studied poems related to pederasty and quoted some verses expressing love to the eromonos, ‘O boy with the virginal eyes, I seek you, but you do not listen, not knowing that you are the charioteer of my soul!’ [8] Also, A surviving fragment of Solon from the early sixth century B.C. writes that ‘Till he loves a lad in the flower of youth, bewitched by thighs and by sweet lips.’ [8]
The graffiti of Thera verified that anal penetration was normal in pederastic relationships, for in the inscriptions, Krimon used the verb oiphein (male sexual act performed as either active or passive partner in Dorian dialect) to describe the intercourse with his eromenos, which indicates anal penetration. [9] Also, literature suggested that the charm of the eromenos lay in his attractive anal area, which was described by various metaphors such as rosebud, fruits, figs or gold. [9]
It is noteworthy that most of the Greek verses about homosexuality were about how the erastes longed for the eromenos, but few were written from the perspective of the eromenos.
The erastes-eromenos relationship can be not only between humans but also between humans and gods. The love between Apollo and Hyacinth was said to have been the archetype of pederasty in Sparta. Apollo fell in love with Hyacinth on account of his youthful beauty, and became his instructor in archery, music, hunting and the gymnasium. Hyacinth was killed by the discus thrown by Apollo when studying discus-throwing with him, and in some versions of myths it was Zephyr (the god of the west wind) who also loved Hyacinth, and who disturbed the wind to cause this accident.
Though usually known as the mortal lover of Aphrodite, Adonis was said to be loved by other gods such as Apollo, Heracles and Dionysus, for his youth and beauty.
The Homeric Hymn of Aphrodite gives an explicit portrait of the erotic relationship between Ganymede and Zeus. [10] Ganymede is a beautiful youth kidnapped by Zeus from Troy and who became immortal on Olympus. He was depicted in ancient vase paintings as the ideal of the eromenos.
The Athenians banned slaves from pursuing courtship of freeborn youths with themselves as the active partner, as Against Timarchus states that ‘A slave shall not be the lover of a free boy nor follow after him, or else he shall receive fifty blows of the public lash’; but this did not apply to free men. Nevertheless, to be in such a relationship with honour, eromenoi were supposed to resist the pursuit of their erastes to test their love, before finally yielding. [11] According to Foucault, an eromenos should avoid being chased too easily, receiving too many gifts or quickly getting into a relationship before the erastes proved their passion, love and responsibility. Moreover, the perception of pederasty varied in different cities. While it was allowed in Elis and Boeotia, Ionians did not accept pederastic courtship. Athenians held a complicated attitude, as it was considered that Athenian fathers ought to protect their sons from suitors. [11]
Some scholars believe that what the eromenoi gained from their erastes were not material rewards, but intellectual and moral edification, as well as learning how to achieve ejaculation, as pederasty was regarded as a process of education and sensual pleasure. [12] For over a millennium, this relationship was the primary way of educating young men of the ruling class in military skills, social values, literature and the arts. [13] Eric Bethe, the first classical scholar to acknowledge Greek homosexuality, believed that the transmission of semen via anal intercourse was regarded as the conduit whereby the noble qualities of tutor-love were passed down to the youth. [13] However, Michel Foucault argued that, according to Plutarch, the erastes' sexual contact was imposed through violence, and the eromenos could only feel anger, hatred, the desire for revenge and social shame through having become an object of contempt, which he described as acharistos. [14]
James Neill reads the relationship between the erastes and the eromenos as the younger man's liminal passage into adulthood. The youth attracted heroic noble men by his beauty and virtue, and from among them chose his adult lover, who later tutored him in warrior skills, arts and other knowledge. After the youth acquired these qualities, he would be transformed into an adult.
In heterosexual erotic images in Ancient Greece, the gender roles of male and female are often depicted as the dominant and subordinate positions. Women are depicted bending over, recumbent, or supported by men positioned upright or on top; while eromenoi are often depicted as experiencing ‘intercrural sex’ (i.e., between the thighs), with their partners standing face-to-face with them.
To erastes, whether the appeal and seduction of the eromenos lies in their masculinity or femininity is contested. Dover discovered a line of Athenian Kritias quoted by a Roman writer, ‘In males, the most beautiful appearance is that which is female; but in females, the opposite.’ [15] However, due to the lack of specific context and further supporting evidence, we cannot conclude that female characteristics of eromenos are the stimuli of pederasty. He also found that beardless male and female faces share the same contours, except for the eyes. Some scholars like Eva Cantarella and Cohen found that the lengths of time during which one ought to resist one's suitors' advances were similar in both same-sex and different-sex courtships; since the honour lay not in the refusal, but the choice of which was the best time to give in. [16] Also, Garrison argues that the love of boys by men is emblematic of attitudes prevalent among the ruling class, in which love for women is devalued. The love for eromenoi can be related to misogyny in Ancient Greece. [16]
Not all homosexual relationships in Ancient Greece are typified as pederasty or as the erastes-eromenos relationship. The love between Achilles and Patroclus might be a counterargument to pederasty, for both of them showed their masculinity in this heroic, blood-brother like relationship, and were around the same age, with Patroclus only slightly older than Achilles.
The 20th-century English and South African writer Mary Renault was famous for her romantic novels on pederasty in Ancient Greece. Her novel The Last of the Wine (1956) tells the love story of Alexias, a beautiful and noble Athenian youth and Socrates’ student who was chased by a number of older men because of his beauty. Bernard F. Dick commented on her novels that they provided historically accurate representation of Greek homosexuality. Her fan community also created artworks that imitate Greek vase paintings portraying courting scenes between the erastes and eromenos.
In Greek mythology, Cyparissus or Kyparissos was a boy beloved by Apollo or in some versions by other deities. In the best-known version of the story, the favorite companion of Cyparissus was a tamed stag, which he accidentally killed with his hunting javelin as it lay sleeping in the woods. The boy's grief was such that it transformed him into a cypress tree, a classical symbol of mourning. The myth is thus aetiological in explaining the relation of the tree to its cultural significance. The subject is mainly known from Hellenized Latin literature and frescoes from Pompeii. No Greek hero cult devoted to Cyparissus has been identified.
Societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships have varied over time and place. Attitudes to male homosexuality have varied from requiring males to engage in same-sex relationships to casual integration, through acceptance, to seeing the practice as a minor sin, repressing it through law enforcement and judicial mechanisms, and to proscribing it under penalty of death. In addition, it has varied as to whether any negative attitudes towards men who have sex with men have extended to all participants, as has been common in Abrahamic religions, or only to passive (penetrated) participants, as was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Female homosexuality has historically been given less acknowledgment, explicit acceptance, and opposition. The widespread concept of homosexuality as a sexual orientation and sexual identity is a relatively recent development, with the word itself being coined in the 19th century.
Intercrural sex, which is also known as coitus interfemoris, thigh sex, thighing, thighjob and interfemoral sex, is a type of non-penetrative sex in which the penis is placed between the receiving partner's thighs and friction is generated via thrusting. It was a common practice in ancient Greek society prior to the early centuries AD, and was frequently discussed by writers and portrayed in artwork such as vases. It later became subject to sodomy laws and became increasingly seen as contemptible. In the 17th century, intercrural sex was featured in several works of literature and it took cultural prominence, being seen as a part of male-on-male sexual habits following the trial and execution of Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven, in 1631.
Records of men who have sex with men in Japan date back to ancient times. Western scholars have identified these as evidence of homosexuality in Japan. Though these relations had existed in Japan for millennia, they became most apparent to scholars during the Tokugawa period. Historical practices identified by scholars as homosexual include shudō (衆道), wakashudō (若衆道) and nanshoku (男色).
The History of Sexuality is a four-volume study of sexuality in the Western world by the French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault, in which the author examines the emergence of "sexuality" as a discursive object and separate sphere of life and argues that the notion that every individual has a sexuality is a relatively recent development in Western societies. The first volume, The Will to Knowledge, was first published in 1976; an English translation appeared in 1978. The Use of Pleasure, and The Care of the Self, were published in 1984. The fourth volume, Confessions of the Flesh, was published posthumously in 2018.
LGBT history dates back to the first recorded instances of same-sex love and sexuality of ancient civilizations, involving the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples and cultures around the world. What survives after many centuries of persecution—resulting in shame, suppression, and secrecy—has only in more recent decades been pursued and interwoven into more mainstream historical narratives.
Terms used to describe homosexuality have gone through many changes since the emergence of the first terms in the mid-19th century. In English, some terms in widespread use have been sodomite, Achillean, Sapphic, Uranian, homophile, lesbian, gay, effeminate, queer, homoaffective, and same-gender attracted. Some of these words are specific to women, some to men, and some can be used of either. Gay people may also be identified under the umbrella term LGBT.
The Warren Cup is an ancient Greco-Roman silver drinking cup decorated in relief with two images of male same-sex acts. It was purchased by the British Museum for £1.8 million in 1999, the most expensive single purchase by the museum at that time. It is usually dated to the time of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece was a significant aspect across the ancient Greek city-states, ranging from being a core part of military life to being an accepted practice of some individual soldiers. It was regarded as contributing to morale. Although the primary example is the Sacred Band of Thebes, a unit said to have been formed of same-sex couples, the Spartan tradition of military heroism has also been explained in light of strong emotional bonds resulting from homosexual relationships. Various ancient Greek sources record incidents of courage in battle and interpret them as motivated by homoerotic bonds.
The social construction of human sexuality and sexual behavior—along with its taboos, regulation, and social and political impact—has had a profound effect on the various cultures of the world since prehistoric times.
In classical antiquity, writers such as Herodotus, Plato, Xenophon, Athenaeus and many others explored aspects of homosexuality in Greek society. The most widespread and socially significant form of same-sex sexual relations in ancient Greece amongst elite circles was between adult men and pubescent or adolescent boys, known as pederasty. Certain city-states allowed it while others were ambiguous or prohibited it. Though sexual relationships between adult men did exist, it is possible at least one member of each of these relationships flouted social conventions by assuming a passive sexual role according to Kenneth Dover, though this has been questioned by recent scholars. It is unclear how such relations between same-sex partners were regarded in the general society, especially for women, but examples do exist as far back as the time of Sappho.
Greek Homosexuality is a book about homosexuality in ancient Greece by the classical scholar Kenneth Dover, in which the author uses archaic and classical archaeological and literary sources to discuss ancient Greek sexual behavior and attitudes. He addresses the iconography of vase paintings, the speeches in the law courts, and the comedies of Aristophanes, as well as the content of other literary and philosophical source texts.
Pederasty in ancient Greece was a socially acknowledged romantic relationship between an older male and a younger male usually in his teens. It was characteristic of the Archaic and Classical periods. The influence of pederasty on Greek culture of these periods was so prevalent that it has been called "the principal cultural model for free relationships between citizens."
Greek love is a term originally used by classicists to describe the primarily homoerotic customs, practices, and attitudes of the ancient Greeks. It was frequently used as a euphemism for both homosexuality and pederasty. The phrase is a product of the enormous impact of the reception of classical Greek culture on historical attitudes toward sexuality, and its influence on art and various intellectual movements.
'Greece' as the historical memory of a treasured past was romanticised and idealised as a time and a culture when love between males was not only tolerated but actually encouraged, and expressed as the high ideal of same-sex camaraderie. ... If tolerance and approval of male homosexuality had happened once—and in a culture so much admired and imitated by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—might it not be possible to replicate in modernity the antique homeland of the non-heteronormative?
The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a key element of the stories associated with the Trojan War. In the Iliad, Homer describes a deep and meaningful relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, where Achilles is tender toward Patroclus, but callous and arrogant toward others. Its exact nature—whether homosexual, a non-sexual deep friendship, or something else entirely—has been a subject of dispute in both the Classical period and modern times. Homer never explicitly casts the two as lovers, but they were depicted as lovers in the archaic and classical periods of Greek literature, particularly in the works of Aeschylus, Aeschines and Plato.
Homosexuality in ancient Rome often differs markedly from the contemporary West. Latin lacks words that would precisely translate "homosexual" and "heterosexual". The primary dichotomy of ancient Roman sexuality was active / dominant / masculine and passive / submissive / feminine. Roman society was patriarchal, and the freeborn male citizen possessed political liberty (libertas) and the right to rule both himself and his household (familia). "Virtue" (virtus) was seen as an active quality through which a man (vir) defined himself. The conquest mentality and "cult of virility" shaped same-sex relations. Roman men were free to enjoy sex with other males without a perceived loss of masculinity or social status as long as they took the dominant or penetrative role. Acceptable male partners were slaves and former slaves, prostitutes, and entertainers, whose lifestyle placed them in the nebulous social realm of infamia, so they were excluded from the normal protections accorded to a citizen even if they were technically free. Freeborn male minors were off limits at certain periods in Rome.
This is a history of same-sex unions in cultures around the world. Various types of same-sex unions have existed, ranging from informal, unsanctioned, and temporary relationships to highly ritualized unions that have included marriage. State-recognized same-sex unions have recently become more widely accepted, with various countries recognizing same-sex marriages or other types of unions. A celebrated achievement in LGBT history occurred when Queen Beatrix signed a law making Netherlands the first country to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Lex Scantinia is a poorly documented Roman law that penalized a sex crime (stuprum) against a freeborn male minor. The law may also have been used to prosecute adult male citizens who willingly took a passive role in having sex with other men. It was thus aimed at protecting the citizen's body from sexual abuse (stuprum), but did not prohibit homosexual behavior as such, as long as the passive partner was not a citizen in good standing. The primary use of the Lex Scantinia seems to have been harassing political opponents whose lifestyles opened them to criticism as passive homosexuals or pederasts in the Hellenistic manner.
Pederasty or paederasty is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan.
One Hundred Years of Homosexuality: and other essays on Greek love is a 1990 book about homosexuality in ancient Greece by the classicist David M. Halperin, in which the author supports the social constructionist school of thought associated with the French philosopher Michel Foucault. The work has been praised by several scholars, but criticized by others, some of whom have attributed to Halperin the view that the coining of the word "homosexuality" in the nineteenth century brought homosexuality into existence. The book was often reviewed alongside John J. Winkler's The Constraints of Desire (1990).
Cantarella, Eva. Bisexuality in the Ancient World. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
Dover, Kenneth James. Greek Homosexuality. Updated and with a New Postscript. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1989.
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality. 1st American ed. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.
Garrison, Daniel H. Sexual Culture in Ancient Greece. Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture; v. 24. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000.
Masterson, Mark, Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, and James Robson. Sex in Antiquity: Exploring Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World. Rewriting Antiquity. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2015.
Neill, James. The Origins and Role of Same-sex Relations in Human Societies. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &, 2009.
Percy, William A. Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
Sissa, Giulia. Sex and Sensuality in the Ancient World. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.