Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths (original) (raw)
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Let us recall a phrase of the French satirist Nicolas Boileau: le Grec, né moqueur. The Greeks were natural born mockers and humorists. Even their mythical tradition, the exalted stories of their powerful gods and sublime heroes, could not escape the inborn derisiveness of the Greek spirit. The burlesque of myth is an age-old phenomenon in Greek culture: funny stories about gods and heroes are included already in the Homeric poems, the earliest written monuments of Hellenic literature. One of the most amusing examples is the famous "deception of Zeus" by Hera in Iliad book 14, an episode of domestic comedy, conveyed in a notably light and playful, even frivolous tone. Hera appears in this tale as a crafty intrigante, full of pretended modesty and well-planned coquetry, effectively using her bodily charms in order to seduce Zeus. And Zeus, the lord of the gods, is reduced to the level of a gullible and impetuous Don Juan: in a memorable display of tactlessness, he boasts of his numerous erotic conquests of other females in front of his own wife, but he ultimately proves unable to control his lust for her and falls into the trap of her feminine guile. In other Iliadic scenes, the so-called "theomachies", in which Olympian gods fight each other on the battlefield, the divine figures are regularly turned into caricatures. Their brawls include much slapstick and broad humour -vivid insults, thrashing, boisterous falls and other trademarks of low physical farce. In the Odyssey the most outstanding example is the song of Demodocus about the adulterous amours of Ares and Aphrodite in book 8.
Indian Journal of health sexuality and culture, 2019
Homosexuality a term used for describing romantic and sexual relationship among the people of same sex. Previously understood as psychological disorder in psychiatry, but increasing understanding about homosexuality has led to current understanding as a normal variant in sexuality. The world comprising of varied geography and cultures also has their own way of understanding the phenomena of same sex love. The Indian mythology has mentions about homosexuality from the epic of Ramayana, 'Manusmriti', told about the punishment for homosexuality, whereas the European mythology wrote poetry about the love of Achilles' and Patroclus and Egyptians perceived a submissiveness in male homosexuality. Aztec mythology patronized homosexuality by giving them a place among Gods, though on contrary far eastern mythology depicted homosexuality associated with magical creatures like dragons, rabbits and punitive actions were incorporated. The depiction of homosexuality in mythology has been varied throughout the cultures and lands, but a common notion that carried with homosexuality even in the myths was, disapproval of the society, misfortune for the lovers and often associated with magic.
THE HERO AND THE ROGUE Man and Boy Love Ethics in Greek Myth and the Modern Imagination
E.R.O.S., 2014
NOTA BENE: References herein are to relations between males above the age of consent in their respective jurisdictions. No reference is made or intended to illegal activities with individuals below the age of eighteen (18). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (An early version of this article, “THE HERO AND THE ROGUE Faces of Male Love in Greek Myth and Modern Imagination,” was published in the 2014 edition of E.R.O.S. quarterly) The myths of the Greeks illuminate the present with surprising insights, at times uncomfortably modern. Choose - the myths seem to invite - choose to live as brave and just men, or to be banal and rapacious. This tension between the hero and the rogue is one the Greeks played out on the field of battle between nation and nation, man and man, in the passionate encounter between a man and a woman, and between a man and a boy. That is a battle too, the myths seem to say, a battle not with the other but with oneself, whether in a palace three millennia ago, or on the streets and in the schools of today.
Love is a Cunning Weaver: Myths, Sexuality, and the Modern World
Love is a Cunning Weaver: Myths, Sexuality, and the Modern World explores the relationship between the modern and ancient worlds by analyzing the depiction of queer and female characters in Greco-Roman mythology. That relationship is illuminated and defined by the modern individual’s tendency to apply contemporaneous narratives to myths of the ancient world in order to understand them. The aforementioned queer and female characters are introduced in their original contexts based on the most popular written traditions of the myths in which they appear. They are then broken down through a series of interviews with current (or recently graduated) college students. Finally, the narrative established in the introduction of each chapter is subverted through a creative piece.
Sexual Uses of Myth as the Basis for a Male-Dominated Society
2015
In world history, few societies have distinguished themselves as the ancient Greeks did. This great society was the birthplace of democracy, the site of the first Olympics and the home to many of the world’s great minds. When thinking of ancient Greece, one sees the Parthenon, Themistocles’ triremes and even men dressed in their chitons passionately debating in the Pynx; however, certain images seem to be obscured from our memory, though they once formed the basis for a male-dominated society. These images revolve around sexuality. One does not always associate ancient Athens with sophisticated sculptures featuring exaggerated use of hermai, nor does one think of red-figure vases showing images of female self-gratification. In more recent scholarly works, ancient Greek sexuality has come to be associated with not just male-female sexual relations, but also with politics and the everyday lifestyle of Greeks; therefore, this paper will discuss sexuality’s importance in the formation o...
A STUDY OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN ANCIENT GREECE WITH REFERENCE TO MADELINE MILLER'S THE SONG OF ACHILLES
Homosexuality has been a taboo in several parts of the world and continues to be so despite the vast changes that have revolutionized the lives of LGBTQIA+ community. But the question is, was it always a taboo? Were the classical societies ignorant of homosexuality? Or were they so accepting of it? Did they recognize and classify different sexual orientations? What was love between two individuals of the same gender like? This paper attempts to explore the nuances of homosexuality in ancient Greece with reference to Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. With the theoretical framework of Foucault's theory of sexuality, it aims to dissect the factors of homosexuality in ancient Greece, their ways of perceiving it, along with the character analysis of the protagonists in terms of masculinity and femininity. Understanding the notions of the fluid nature of gender and sexuality through retellings of classics like The Song of Achilles diversifies the readers' relationship to literatures in being sensitive to queer community today.
Bisexuality in Ancient Greek-Roman Society
The figure of the hermaphrodite, the human being with both male and female sex characteristics, has always fascinated the human mind and excited man's imagination. The purpose of this study was to present the concepts and beliefs on bisexuality in Ancient Greek and Roman tradition. A thorough study of the early scripts of ancient Greek and roman literature was undertaken. The first reports on bisexuality are found in the legends on the nativity of Hermaphroditos who was considered to be the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. Concurrently, the social status of these bisexual beings, and their fate in Greekroman antiquity varied from total rejection and margination to deification.