In ancient Greek culture, homosexuality was generally accepted between males and, depending on the location, only partially accepted between females. These relationships existed because the modern concept of marriage between loving partners was not the norm, and men and women generally remained segregated from each other in society. Marriages became social and political alliances which were made primarily for the creation of legitimate offspring. Love and emotional fulfillment were mostly found in homosexual relationships, not marriages. Literature from that period can provide many examples of different views on homosexuality. For instance, in the Iliad, the traditional "erastes/eromenos" relationship is exhibited in the friendship between Achilles and Patroclus. Whether or not the relationship was physical, and those of the time assumed it was, the two of them gained personal fulfillment from their relationship with each other. On the other hand, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata male homosexual relationships are thought of to be one of the reasons the males of Athens remain at war for such a long time. It is thought of, by the women in the story, of being an obstacle to maintaining a harmonious and peaceful society. Finally in the poetry of Sappho the female view of the homosexual relationship is explored with the result being a similar emotional bond between females involved in homosexual relationships. Sappho rejects the traditional view of the Ancient Greeks that lesbian relationships are an expression of uncontrollable female lust and destructive to society. She asserts that the same bond that is present between males involved in homosexual in present in female homosexual relationships as well, and the emotional fulfillment absent from ancient Greek marriages can be found between two loving females.
References
Aristophanes, and Jeffery Henderson. (1996). Three Plays by Aristophanes. London,
Routledge. Print.
Homer, and Richard Lattimore. (1967). Great Books of the Western World: The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. Print Sappho, and Anne Carson. (2002). If Not…
Sample Source(s) Used
References
Aristophanes, and Jeffery Henderson. (1996). Three Plays by Aristophanes. London,
Routledge. Print.
Homer, and Richard Lattimore. (1967). Great Books of the Western World: The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. Print Sappho, and Anne Carson. (2002). If Not Winter, Fragments of Sappho. New York:
Alfred Knopf. Print.
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