Zephyrus and Hyacinthus
Hyacinthus, beloved of Apollo was a patron hero of pederasty in Sparta. Attic red-figure cup from Tarquinia, c. 490-480 BCE.

Spartan pederasty, a custom held in common with other Dorian tribes, is thought to have either been introduced at the time of the Dorian invasion, around 1200 BCE, or to have emulated that in Crete which evolved in response to population pressure. Sparta is thought to be the first city to practice athletic nudity, which evolved in parallel with pederastic practices.^[1] Download high resolution version (748x993, 655 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Download high resolution version (748x993, 655 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Zephyr and Hyakinth; Attic red figure cup from Tarquinia, circa 480 BCE. Boston Museum of Fine Arts. ... The Death of Hyacinthos by Jean Broc. ... Statue of Apollo at the British Museum. ... This article covers the history of Sparta from its founding to the present, concentrating primarily on the Spartan state during the height of its power in the sixth to fourth centuries B.C.E. // Prehistoric period Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who... Line art depictions of a man and a woman designed to educate extraterrestrials about the appearance of the human body. ...

The title given the lover was eispnelos (εἴσπνηλος) "inspirer," who infuses the favorite with courage or arete, while the beloved was known as the aïtas (ἀίτας) "hearer." ^[2][3] Arete (Greek: ) in its basic sense means goodness or excellence of any kind. ...

Structure

The Spartans believed that the love of an older, accomplished aristocrat for an adolescent boy was essential to his formation as a free citizen. The education of the ruling class was thus founded on pederastic relationships, required of each citizen.^[4] The ephors fined any eligible man who did not love a boy, because, despite his own excellence, he failed to make a beloved “similar to himself.”^[5] Likewise, for a boy it was a disgrace to not find a lover,^[6]. By the time they reached the age of twelve "there was not any of the more hopeful boys who did not have a lover to bear him company."^[7] An ephor was an official of ancient Sparta. ...

In Sparta, like in most other Greek city-states, the man first had to win the affection of the boy he sought, and it was the boy’s right to choose his lover. But in Sparta, his freedom was not complete. If two men, both reputable but one rich and the other poor, courted him, and he settled on the wealthier of the two, he was fined by the ephors for his greed.^[8] As for the men, if two different men both loved one boy, instead of becoming rivals they forged a friendship between themselves, and "worked together to make the boy the best he could be."^[9] Another characteristics that set Spartan boys apart from other Greek youths - typically overbearing and arrogant in such circumstances - was their modesty towards their lovers. The boys themselves were the ones to request to be mentored.^[10] A polis (πολις) — plural: poleis (πολεις) — is a city, or a city-state. ...

Though Plato in his Laws implies otherwise, blaming the Spartans for their custom of males taking sexual pleasure with other males παρὰ φύσιν "beyond nature"^[11], many ancient writers held that Spartan pederasty was chaste, though still erotic. Lycurgus decreed that if someone, being himself an honest man, admired a boy's soul and tried to make of him an ideal friend without reproach and to associate with him, he approved, and believed in the excellence of this kind of training. But if it was clear that the attraction lay in the boy's outward beauty, he banned the connection as an abomination; and thus he mandated that "boy lovers should keep their hands off boys just as parents do not lay hands on their own children." This system, implies Xenophon, produces the most modest, trustworthy and self-controlled men in all of Greece. ^[12] Lycurgus Lycurgus (approx 700 BCE – 630 BCE) was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. ...

Plutarch also describes the relationships as chaste, and states that it was as unthinkable for a lover to sexually consummate a relationship with his beloved as for a father to do so with his own son. In the same vein, Cicero asserted that, "The Lacedaemonians, while they permit all things except outrage (stuprum, = Greek hubris, referring here to anal intercourse)^[13] in the love of youths, certainly distinguish the forbidden by a thin wall of partition from the sanctioned, for they allow embraces and a common couch to lovers.' ^[14] Aelian goes even farther, stating that if any couple succumbed to temptation and indulged in carnal relations, they would have to redeem the affront to the honor of Sparta by either going into exile or taking their own lives.^[15] Marcus Tullius Cicero (IPA: ;) (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin orator and prose stylist. ... Hubris or hybris (Greek ‛′Υβρις) referred in Ancient Greece to a reckless and violent disregard for the personal space of another person resulting in some kind of social degradation for the victim. ... Anal sex or anal intercourse is human sexual behavior involving the anus and rectum, especially, but not limited to, the insertion of the erect penis into the anus. ...

The construction of Spartan pederasty as exclusively chaste conflicts with epigraphic writings found on the island of Thera in 1898, an island colonized by the Spartans. These are graffiti, preserved on the rocks of a cliff in the vicinity of what became a gymnasium. They record sexual conquests, always of one male over another^[16]. E.g.: IG 12(3).538b Ἀμο[τ]ίωνα ὦιπ<h>ε Κρίμων [τ]ε(ῖ)δ[ε] "Krimon fucked Amotion here" (the verb οἴφω is exclusively physical). Thera, however, was also influenced by Crete, a culture which did not privilege non-sexual relationships.^[17] The sexual character of Spartan pederasty was a running gag in the repertoire of Athenian comedians, and the verb λακωνίζω / lakōnízō ("to do it the Lacedaemonian way") took on the meaning of "to sodomize." It is not clear to what extent this is a reflection of the enmity between Athens and Sparta. View from the top of Thira Santorini is a small, circular group of volcanic islands located in the Aegean Sea, 75 km south-east of the Greek mainland, (latitude: 35. ...

The lover was responsible for the boy's training. An anecdote relates the story of a Spartan magistrate who was fined by the city because his beloved had cried out while he was fighting, which was considered to be a sign that the young man was overly effeminate and had therefore not been properly educated by his distinguished lover.^[18] And while the ephors were lenient with a youth who committed a misdeamenor, they made sure to punish his lover, since it was his responsibility to watch and control his beloved.^[19]

Pederasty and military training were intimately connected in Sparta, as in many other cities. The Spartans, claims Athenaeus ^[20] sacrificed to Eros before every battle: "Thus the Lacedaemonians offer preliminary sacrifices to Eros before the troops are drawn up in battle-line, because they think that their safe return and victory depend upon the friendship of the men drawn up." However, unlike other cities which stationed lovers side by side in battle to encourage each to fiercer efforts, Spartan youths were so well trained that they fought nobly regardless of where they were positioned.^[21]

Historical couples

Agesilaus heard Lysander; Archidamus, his son loved Cleonymus; Cleomenes III was the hearer of Xenares and the inspirer of Panteus.^[22] Agesilaus II, or Agesilaos II, king of Sparta, of the Eurypontid family, was the son of Archidamus II and Eupolia, and younger step-brother of Agis II, whom he succeeded about 401 BC. Agis had, indeed, a son Leotychides, but he was set aside as illegitimate, current rumour representing him... Lysander (d. ... Archidamus has been the name of 5 kings of Sparta. ... Cleomenes III was the son of Leonidas II. He became King of Sparta in 235 BC. He continued the reforms of Agis IV. Less squeamish than his predecessor, in 227 BC the opposition in Sparta were removed in a coup - four of the five ephors were killed and eighty opponents...

Festivals

The Hyacinthia was a summer festival in Sparta honoring Hyacinthus, the mythical young prince of Sparta and beloved of Apollo. The festivities continued for three days, with the first mourning the death of Hyacinthus and the last two celebrating his rebirth. It has been suggested that the cycle symbolizes the development of a youth in such relationships, in which he dies as a child in order to be reborn as an adult. The Hyacinthia (Ancient Greek Ὑακίνθια / Hyakínthia) were Spartan religious festivities, organized at Amycla every year in early summer. ... The Death of Hyacinthos by Jean Broc. ... Statue of Apollo at the British Museum. ...

The Gymnopaedia were yearly Spartan dances by naked boys, with attendance restricted to married men. Corybantian dance, the type of dance most likely danced on Gymnopedia festivals (image from Smiths Dictionary of Antiquities) Gymnopaedia derives from the ancient Greek γυμνοπαιδία, a festivity in Sparta, where naked youths would perform war dances. ...

Female pederasty

Similar to the case of the young men, it was expected that the girls engaged in Romantic relationships with other girls as well. As it is the case with the life of women in general, our sources are much rarer in the case of the instutionalised Lesbian love. Plutarch writes, "And though this sort of love [i.e. pederasty] was so approved among them, that the most virtuous matrons would make professions of it to young girls, yet rivalry did not exist..."^[23] The most explicit expression of the "female pedeasty" is found in the choral lyric of Alcman, composed in the 7th cent. BC. Here, girls' choruses express a very intense affection for their chorus leader: Alcman (Greek , also Alkman) (7th cent. ...

"For there will not be enough purple to defend oneself, nor a colourful snake of solid gold nor a Lydian diadem, the pride of the violet-eyed young girls, nor the hair of Nanno, nor godlike Areta nor Sylacis and Cleesisera; and you will not go home to Aenesimbrota and say: May Astaphis be mine, may Philylla look at me, or Damareta or lovely Ianthemis. No, it is Hagesichora that torments me."^[24].

There is probably an age difference between Hagesichora ("chorus-leader") and the other girls. We cannot know if there was also a physical side to this love. At any rate, the relationship is similar to the ones expressed in the lyrics of the contemporaneous poetress Sappho from Lesbos. Furthermore, it must be kept in mind that exactly because the girls have not composed the song themselves, the love expressed in the text was expected and encouraged by the community as part of their initiation-rites. Ancient Greek bust of Sappho the Eresian. ... Lesbos Prefecture Lesbos Island Category: ...

Notes

Theocritus (Greek Θεόκριτος), the creator of Ancient Greek bucolic poetry, flourished in the 3rd century BC. Little is known of him beyond what can be inferred from his writings. ... Claudius Aelianus (c. ... John Addington Symonds was the name of a father and son, both English writers. ... John Addington Symonds was the name of a father and son, both English writers. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Pederasty

• History of Sparta
• Pederasty
• Pederasty in ancient Greece
• Historical pederastic couples
• Homosexuality in ancient Greece
• Mythology of same-sex love
• Philosophy of Greek pederasty

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... This article covers the history of Sparta from its founding to the present, concentrating primarily on the Spartan state during the height of its power in the sixth to fourth centuries B.C.E. // Prehistoric period Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who... The term pederasty embraces a wide range of erotic relations between adult males and adolescent boys. ... Pederastic courtship scene Athenian black-figure amphora, 5th c. ... Whitman & Duckett Over the course of history there have been a number of recorded love affairs between older men and adolescent boys. ... Achilles and Patroclus The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Religious narrative has included stories interpreted by many as accounts of same-sex love and sexuality. ... Tomb of the Diver The topic of pederasty was the subject of extensive analysis in the Greek philosophical schools as well as in later writings of antiquity. ...

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