Were the Spartans Gay? Homosexualy Sparta, Ancient Greece | World History

homosexuality in spartan army

Public DomaWhy do we see so many football and gby teams named for the Spartans, and only one for the Thebans, though Theb fact feated Sparta battle and end s reign as superpower of Greece? The explanatn li ep the prejudic of ancient Greek historians and thkers, as do the spiratn for that one exceptn: The Caledonian Thebans, Sttish ggers who fe themselv as gay, bisexual, or ;s start by notg that Greek Theb (not to be nfed

Contents:

WERE THE SPARTANS GAY? HOMOSEXUALY SPARTA, ANCIENT GREECE

Durg the ancient Greece perd, the practic of gay were mon among emperors. It was later seen their ary forc. This practice was not forceful, but there was a motive. It was to… * homosexuality in spartan army *

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. The Sacred Band of Theb feated even the SpartansGreek warrrs — artistic image (Image:Artstatn/@Aliaksandr Tryzon)The Sacred Band was an ele ary un om Theb prisg 150 gay upl. Depicted on Ancient Greek pottery (Image: Wikimedia Commons)The Thebans believed gay warrrs fought better orr to imprs and protect their lovers.

If a lover fell durg a battle, his partner would fight even harr to avenge his thoand years ago Ancient Greece, beg gay or lbian was not a crime. In fact, certa suatns, the Greeks even enuraged homosexual boys exchanged romantic favors for the knowledge provid by their olr tutors. Theb | Image Source: TwterThere was a strange, weird, and hred part of Greece’s ary history, was the ancient Greece perd, the practic of gay were mon among emperors.

Increasg the feelgs between the soldiers was the way to velop the morale to fight ditedly the fluence of homosexuals was prent om the emperors and emprs. Spartans was one of the ary forc that has a historil imprsn of the gay was the Sacred Band of Theb, the soldiers who feated the Spartans the 4th century BC. It is possible that the fluence of homosexual nnectn showg a sign of had Homosexualy their armySculpture of Band Of Theb | Image Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe history of the Theb warrrs still mentns the 150 warrrs who were male lovers who fought the battle of Lctra and feated the Spartans.

THE ELE GAY ARMY OF ANCIENT GREECETHE SACRED BAND OF THEB FEATED EVEN THE SPARTANSPETER PRKAR·FOLLOWPUBLISHED LSONS OM HISTORY·4 M READ·OCT 11, 2020--3SHAREGREEK WARRRS — ARTISTIC IMAGE (IMAGE:ARTSTATN/@ALIAKSANDR TRYZON)THE SACRED BAND WAS AN ELE ARY UN OM THEB PRISG 150 GAY UPL. AT THE BATTLE OF LCTRA 371 BC, THE 300 GAY WARRRS LED THE THEBAN ARMY AGAST THE SPARTAN ARMY. THE THEBANS WON AND SHATTERED THE SPARTAN NTROL OF GREECE.THE GREEK VIEW ON GAY WARRRSA MALE UPLE ENGAGG TERCRAL SEX. DEPICTED ON ANCIENT GREEK POTTERY (IMAGE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)THE THEBANS BELIEVED GAY WARRRS FOUGHT BETTER ORR TO IMPRS AND PROTECT THEIR LOVERS. IF A LOVER FELL DURG A BATTLE, HIS PARTNER WOULD FIGHT EVEN HARR TO AVENGE HIS ATH.THREE THOAND YEARS AGO ANCIENT GREECE, BEG GAY OR LBIAN WAS NOT A CRIME. IN FACT, CERTA SUATNS, THE GREEKS EVEN ENURAGED HOMOSEXUAL RELATNSHIPS.YOUNG BOYS EXCHANGED ROMANTIC FAVORS FOR THE KNOWLEDGE PROVID BY THEIR OLR TUTORS. FATHERS WOULD PRAY TO THE GODS FOR THEIR SONS TO BE ATTRACTIVE BEE MEANT A BETTER MENTOR. SUCH RELATNSHIPS LASTED UNTIL THE YOUNG BOYS REACHED ADULTHOOD.SOLDIERS WOULD FORM ROMANTIC RELATNSHIPS WH ONE ANOTHER TO BOOST THEIR MORALE.THE GREEK SOCIETY DIFFERENTIATED BETWEEN ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ROL BOTH GENRS TOOK DURG SEX. AN ACTIVE ROLE, BEG A PERATOR, MEANT MASCULY, ADULTHOOD, AND PRTIGE. A PASSIVE ROLE, BEG PERATED, REPRENTED FEMY, YOUTH, AND SHAME.FOR A RECEIVG PARTNER, ANAL SEX WAS MEANG. INSTEAD, THEY ENGAGED TERCRAL SEX.THE MEMBERS OF THE SACRED BAND OF THEB WERE ROMANTIC PARTNERS. THEY LLED AN OLR PARTNER THE ERAST (‘LOVER’) AND A YOUNGER ONE THE EROMENOS (‘BELOVED’). EACH PAIR EXCHANGED SACRED VOWS AT THE TEMPLE OF IOLS, THE LOVER OF HERACL.FACTS ABOUT THE SACRED BAND OF THEB

* homosexuality in spartan army *

He was the lear that end the domance of the creatn of the Sacred Band was by Boeotarch Gidas between 379 to 378 BC, which slowly extend s soldiers to 300 was not that the Gay ary forc were limed to the Theb, but the Spartans' ary forc were followg siar strategi.

There is no evince of any law banng homosexual relatnships where one partner subms to the other, but Xenophon do mentn the forbiddg of physil perastic relatnships by the semi-mythil law-giver Lycurg. While much has been wrten on the topic of homosexualy, both Sparta and other Greek cy stat, the evince is often send-hand, open to terpretatn and / or que possibly a reflectn of an (ancient) thor's bias. Xenophon mak que a number of referenc to homosexualy Greece, ntrastg a Spartan man's appreciatn for a boy's character wh other Greeks' greater tenncy to physil relatnships.

SACRED BAND OF THEB — AN ARMY OF GAY THAT DEFEATED SPARTANS

Historil battl fought by the gay ary force of Spartans and feat their enemi. Durg the vasn of the Persians * homosexuality in spartan army *

Keepg the above md, Xenophon says that the Spartan (semi-mythil) law-giver Lycurg did not approve of physil homosexual relatnships between the erastēs ('lover', the olr partner ually aged 20 to 30) and the erōmenos ('beloved', the younger partner ually aged 12 to 18). McDowell's view is broadly le wh most other amic opn; see Brian Bertosa, 'Sacrifice to Eros and Homosexualy the Spartan Army' (2009) - the thor also c other amics this article.

THE VICTOR GAY GREEK ARMY THAT GOT CANCELED BY HISTORY

The ancient Greek cy of Theb was surprisgly relaxed about gay relatnships, even tchg the attentn of famo Greek philosopher Plato, who * homosexuality in spartan army *

Note also that Xenophon c Lycurg only on perastic homosexual relatnships, not on relatnships between adult men. However, men were expected to marry and have children who would grow up to bee eher (for men) soldiers of the state or (for women) mothers of more soldiers, so seems unlikely that homosexualy was enuraged to the extent that was wh the Theban Sacred Band. Did not officially enurage, let alone stutnalize, for ary purpos homosexual realtnships between two men of adult fightg age.

The explanatn li ep the prejudic of ancient Greek historians and thkers, as do the spiratn for that one exceptn: The Caledonian Thebans, Sttish ggers who fe themselv as gay, bisexual, or ’s start by notg that Greek Theb (not to be nfed wh the Egyptian cy of the same name) had unually gay-iendly laws and social ctoms.

The whole discsn, wh s equatn of male sexual love and wardice, adds a layer of homophobia to the standard Greek slurs agast Theban wlsns and poor rears n sometim spot and rrect for the bias, but outright omissns are harr to overe, bee we pend on Xenophon for so much of our rerd of Greek history. The Theban “gay 300, ” as some have cheekily lled them, are ltle known today, spe of the fact that they too, like the Spartans at Thermopylae, were stroyed to a man as they fought a hopels stggle. The battle of Thermopylae was one of the historil battl fought by the gay ary force of Spartans and feat their enemi.

SPARTANS ARE GAY HERO “A TTH OR MYTH” IN ANCIENT HISTORY

[1] Although the primary example is the Sacred Band of Theb, a un said to have been formed of same-sex upl, the Spartan tradn of ary heroism has also been explaed light of strong emotnal bonds rultg om homosexual relatnships. However, Plutarch himself appears to doubt the veracy of the acunts and is to be doubted if Pammen actually anized ary uns along homosexual l.

The acunt is given by Plutarch a dialogue where the fundamental pot seems to be that the superry of heterosexual love do not imply nmnatn of homosexualy. Afterwards the Chalcidians, erected a tomb for him their marketplace and reversed their negative view of homosexualy and began to honor . The ancient Greek cy of Theb was surprisgly relaxed about gay relatnships, even tchg the attentn of famo Greek philosopher Plato, who noted that opns on the matter his cy of Athens were plited.

As mentned, the un was ma up entirely of male lovers, to a total of 300 (leadg them to sometim be lled the Theban “gay 300”).

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* HOMOSEXUALITY IN SPARTAN ARMY

Spartans Are Gay Hero “A Tth Or Myth” In Ancient History .

TOP