Sacred Band of Theb: An All-Gay Army Battaln Ancient Greece – The Journal of A_C_Un

Contents:

• WERE THE SPARTANS GAY? HOMOSEXUALY SPARTA, ANCIENT GREECE
• 20 GAY GREEK GODS
• THE HISTORY OF GAYS THE MILARY – THE SACRED BAND OF THEB
• THE INVCIBLE GAY WARRRS OF ANCIENT GREECE
• SACRED BAND OF THEB: AN ALL-GAY ARMY BATTALN ANCIENT GREECE

WERE THE SPARTANS GAY? HOMOSEXUALY SPARTA, ANCIENT GREECE

The state of Sparta ma homosexual relatnships mandatory. The homoerotic element nnot be entirely ignored. Lbian and gay women’s relatnships Ancient Sparta.

Gay men and women ancient Sparta. Heterosexualy and homosexualy were both enuraged and expected at different stag life, wh homosexualy, mon wh prevalent ancient Greek thought, beg seen as the ial form of love and heterosexualy as sential for procreatn.

20 GAY GREEK GODS

A gay cupbearer on Mount Olymp?

While tolerance is often prented as a sign of civilizatn's advancement, a readg of Greek mythology reveals greater acceptance of homosexualy ancient Athens than n be boasted wh today's world religns. The LGBT Greek gods and migods prove gay culture is no morn ventn. While Homer never explicly stat a gay relatnship between Achill and sikick Patrocl, many scholars read a romantic nnectn between the two, as only Patrocl ever drew out a passnate si to the famoly arrogant warrr.

Rearcher Johanna Hypatia-Cybelaia wr that lbian and gay vote worshipped her as Artemis Orthia, and that lbian port Pamphilia referred to the godss hymn as Artemis Pergaea. Above: Athena, center, a mural by John Sger SargentAphrodeWhile the godss of love is not intified promently as lbian herself, the Greek poet Sappho (as sapphic) of Lbos (y, as lbian) told many homoerotic tal and named Aphrode as the greatt patron and ally of lbians and homosexuals wh the Greek pantheon of gods.

THE HISTORY OF GAYS THE MILARY – THE SACRED BAND OF THEB

Above: Enrique Simo, El Juic Paris (1904)ErosWhile the bt-known myths of Eros pict the son of Aphrode as a fertily god -- the versn that proved spiratnal to the popularized Roman god Cupid -- later Greek myths portrayed Eros as one of several wged erot, and the one regard as a protector of homosexual culture, acrdg to rearch the scholarly book Among Women: From the Homosocial to the Homoerotic the Ancient World.

But rerds of the LGBT romanc survived homophobic revisnists and still stand as celebratns of the origal Greek (and Roman) love. A seri of poems about Catull' gay love affairs has drawn more attentn ntemporary tim; some of gets outright vulgar.

THE INVCIBLE GAY WARRRS OF ANCIENT GREECE

Alexanr the Great and HephatnAlexanr III, the famed kg of Macedon, que likely mataed a gay relatnship wh his general Hephatn. Ined, two of the most famed generals of their day, Epamondas and Pelopidas, were lovers who fought wh this famo band of gay warrrs. Pdar and TheoxenThe most famo love poem wrten by Pdar to clare his love for the young Theoxen was scribed by gay rights scholar Magn Hirschfeld as "one of the most perfect love songs the Greek language.

Ort and PylasThe relatnship between the two men was celebrated by Greek scholars as a tale of the wonr of homoerotic romance.

He lived wh longtime lover Psanias, who was quoted extensively on the subject of homosexual sire Plato's work. Ancient Greek ary history is extribly bound up wh homosexualy. Homosexual fightg uns – the Sacred Band of Theb.

SACRED BAND OF THEB: AN ALL-GAY ARMY BATTALN ANCIENT GREECE

The end of the first known gay fightg un. The Sacred Band was unfeated for the entire forty years of s history, until s fal annihilatn by Philip of Macedon and his son Alexanr (another world famo gay soldier) at the battle of Chaeronea 338 BC. “Was the Relatnship between Achill and Patrocl Homoerotic?

This kylix vsel, signed by the pater, Pehos, shows heterosexual and homosexual urtship on the exterr. Pictur and Passns: A History of Homosexualy the Visual Arts.

The Sacred Band of Theb was an ele un of the Theban army prised of 150 gay male upl totalg 300 men.