1 Comment so far

1. Manny Espinola on February 5, 2013 8:03 pm

   Where is this quote from? The ancient Greeks had no word for “homosexuality.” The institutional pederasty they practiced was one of a mentor-pupil type, or the older/younger partners model, a quasi-religious tradition that was very useful in the maintenance of a standing army (Greece was always at war). A good mentor-pupil relationship evolved to enjoy erotic benefits – but even here the roles were never switched. The mentor, (erastes) older, married and a militarily experienced was always the top, and the pupil (eromenos) learned as much as he could about soldiering while the mentoring lasts. Once the younger has killed his first man in war, he was allowed/required to grow a beard, marry a woman and have lots of sons (yep, daughters were a liability – but in prosperous times they could be traded like cattle or married off for political gain). Once this stage is reached, the sexual component of the mentor/pupil relationship is severed, because the pupil is now a mentor himself, and could find another beautiful boy to train and have a nookie with in the forest. It was a man’s world; either you had a wife or a lover —or ideally both, and if you had neither there was something wrong with you. The measure of manhood was bravery and competence in war. Effeminacy and other “girlie” qualities were the opposite of manliness, not sexual preference. Not surprisingly, masturbation was frowned upon in ancient Greece, and women were not “known” to have sexual desires (they couldn’t achieve any equivalent of an erection, the most visible sign of male sexual arousal). It was the best time to be B and G, but not LTQ.