4
edits
Changes
Added content describing homosexuality in ancient Greece.
== Homosexuality and the effects on Greece ==
== Homosexuality and the effects on Greece ==
Homosexuality was generally accepted in Ancient Greece, although not in the way it is known in the modern world. Gay rights activists sometimes use Greece as an example of how homosexuality can be beneficial, normally unaware of methods such as pederasty which were commonly practiced. Some historians also believe that homosexuality helped lead to the downfall of Ancient Greece, as the population was not growing so much and food sources were not being produced as a result and armies became small.
Homosexuality was generally accepted in Ancient Greece, although not in the way it is known in the modern world. Gay rights activists sometimes use Greece as an example of how homosexuality can be beneficial, normally unaware of methods such as pederasty which were commonly practiced.
Homosexual practices in ancient Greece were rooted in a philosophical disdain for the vulgar and the belief that homosexual practices were more rooted in a higher form of love which was not lustful but contributed to an 'everlasting disposition.' This is reflected by attitudes in Plato's Symposium:
<blockquote>
With disdain, Pausanius explains that common Love “has no discrimination...and is of the body rather than of the soul.” Common Love was lustful, casual, and careless fornication. To Pausanias, common Love would lead a man to women and (male) youths too young to pursue, and that a practitioner of common Love “[did] good and evil quite indiscriminately.” Heavenly Love, on the other hand, inspired the male to “turn to the male, and delight in him who is the more valiant and intelligent nature.” Heavenly Love caught the hearts of men who saw youths as intelligent persons in whom reason was beginning to be developed. Men engulfed by heavenly Love did not deceive these youths, but intended to remain their companions, if not lovers, for life. In such a pursuit, the pursuer “[endured] a slavery worse than any slave,” that to Eros. To be such a slave, however, did not matter to the scores of men who devoted themselves to boys on the verge of adulthood. As Pausanius explains, “a man fairly argues that in Athens to love and to be loved is held to be a very honorable thing.” Heavenly Love was a noble and commendable form of Eros, which disregarded a one-time lustful tryst instead for an everlasting disposition.<ref name="Acceptance through Restriction: Male Homosexuality in Ancient Athens>, Kelleher, Brigid, in Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II, Vol. 16 [https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=historical-perspectives]</ref>
</blockquote>
While these bonds would last throughout life, it was rooted in the practice of pederasty, which does not bear a resemblance to modern homosexuality as it was highly restricted. Scholars observe that the laws put upon homosexuality in ancient Greece implicitly recognize the potential for it to corrupt morals.
<blockquote>
Pederasty was permitted, but had to be practiced through a refined courtship marked by self-control and dignity. Laws protected youths from the sexual aggression of adult males. Laws also stripped adult males who lost their self-control and sold their bodies to the sexual and psycho-logical dominance of other adult males. Though ancient Athens permitted limited forms of pederasty, restrictions on male prostitution reveal a deep-seatedfear that if not checked, homosexuality could corrupt its citizenry and subvert the polis. <ref name="Acceptance through Restriction: Male Homosexuality in Ancient Athens>, Kelleher, Brigid, in Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II, Vol. 16 [https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=historical-perspectives]</ref>
</blockquote>
Some historians also believe that homosexuality helped lead to the downfall of Ancient Greece, as the population was not growing so much and food sources were not being produced as a result and armies became small.
== Famous poets ==
== Famous poets ==