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Greek Homosexuality

Greek Homosexuality. “Omit: a reference to the unspeakable vice of the Greeks” -Professor interrupting a student during a translation of a Greek text, from the novel Maurice , written in 1914. Outline. Introduction Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece

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Greek Homosexuality

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  1. Greek Homosexuality

  2. “Omit: a reference to the unspeakable vice of the Greeks” -Professor interrupting a student during a translation of a Greek text, from the novel Maurice, written in 1914.

  3. Outline • Introduction • Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • A Fundamentally Uneven Relationship • Debates about Greek Homosexuality • Conclusion: Why Talk About This?

  4. Intro • Homosexuality not a category Greeks had a word for • “Gender” and “Sexuality”

  5. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes

  6. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes • The Spartans

  7. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes • The Spartans • “Kalos” and the Symposia

  8. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes • The Spartans • “Kalos” and the Symposia • Greek Myth: Zeus and Ganymede

  9. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes • The Spartans • “Kalos” and the Symposia • Greek Myth: Zeus and Ganymede • Harmodius and Aristogeiton

  10. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes • The Spartans • “Kalos” and the Symposia • Greek Myth: Zeus and Ganymede • Harmodius and Aristogeiton • Lots of others

  11. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes • The Spartans • “Kalos” and the Symposia • Greek Myth: Zeus and Ganymede • Harmodius and Aristogeiton • Lots of others • Broader cultural perspective: appreciation of male beauty

  12. Examples of Male-Male Sexual Relationships in Ancient Greece • Sacred Band of Thebes • The Spartans • “Kalos” and the Symposia • Greek Myth: Zeus and Ganymede • Harmodius and Aristogeiton • Lots of others • Broader cultural perspective: appreciation of male beauty • Not a “liberated” attitude

  13. A Fundamentally Uneven Relationship • Pederasty • Erastes and Eramenos • Masculine/Active vs. Feminine/Boyish/Passive

  14. Historian David Halperin says… “Sexual partners came in two significantly different kinds—not male and female but ‘active’ and ‘passive’, dominant and submissive. That is why the currently fashionable distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality …had no meaning for the Classical Athenians…; there was…a single form of sexual experience in which all free adult males shared –making due allowance for variations in individual taste.”

  15. A Fundamentally Uneven Relationship • Pederasty • Erastes and Eramenos • Masculine/Active vs. Feminine/Boyish/Passive • Halperin argues: importance of hierarchy, division into active/passive, dominance/submission

  16. A Fundamentally Uneven Relationship • Pederasty • Erastes and Eramenos • Masculine/Active vs. Feminine/Boyish/Passive • Halperin argues: importance of hierarchy, division into active/passive, dominance/submission • Social context of relationship

  17. A Fundamentally Uneven Relationship • Pederasty • Erastes and Eramenos • Masculine/Active vs. Feminine/Boyish/Passive • Halperin argues: importance of hierarchy, division into active/passive, dominance/submission • Social context of relationship • Has an endpoint and NOT exclusive with opposite-sex relationships

  18. Debates About Greek Homosexuality • How widely practiced was it?

  19. Debates About Greek Homosexuality • How widely practiced was it? • How widely accepted was it?

  20. Debates About Greek Homosexuality • How widely practiced was it? • How widely accepted was it? • Female-Female Sexual Relationships?

  21. Debates About Greek Homosexuality • How widely practiced was it? • How widely accepted was it? • Female-Female Sexual Relationships? • Was there a Greek category of “Homosexuality” similar to our own?

  22. Why Talk about This? • The risk of perpetuating the silence. Homosexuality exists in lots of cultures

  23. Why Talk about This? • The risk of perpetuating the silence. Homosexuality exists in lots of cultures • Sexuality and Citizenship

  24. Why Talk about This? • The risk of perpetuating the silence. Homosexuality exists in lots of cultures • Sexuality and Citizenship • Reminder: our sexuality/gender categories not universal

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