Greek Homosexuality (book)

Greek Homosexuality

Cover of the first edition
Author	Kenneth Dover
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Homosexuality in Ancient Greece
Publisher	Harvard University Press
Publication date	1978
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	244
ISBN
OCLC	3088711
LC Class	HQ76.3.G8 D68 1978

Greek Homosexuality (1978; second edition 1989; third edition 2016) is a book about homosexuality in ancient Greece by the classical scholar Kenneth Dover, in which the author uses archaic and classical archaeological and literary sources to discuss ancient Greek sexual behavior and attitudes. He addresses the iconography of vase paintings, the speeches in the law courts, and the comedies of Aristophanes, as well as the content of other literary and philosophical source texts. The first modern scholarly work on its topic, Greek Homosexuality was enormously influential, helping to shape the views of other classicists.

In the preface Dover writes that the aim of the work is: "To describe those phenomena of homosexual behaviour and sentiment which are to be found in Greek art and literature between the eighth and second centuries B.C., and so to provide a basis for more detailed and specialised exploration (which I leave to others) of the sexual aspects of Greek art, society and morality." In the Preface he furthermore argued that ‘heterosexual’ and ‘homosexual’ were not antithetical terms, but that homosexuality was a sub-division of the ‘quasi-sexual’ or ‘pseudo-sexual’.

The conclusions drawn are that the Greeks regarded homosexuality in general to be natural, normal, and salutary, and their actual practices were circumscribed by cultural norms. In the case of the ancient Greeks – specifically the Athenians – the book claims that the sexual roles of the lovers were sharply polarized.

Dover concludes that the Greeks conceived of same-sex relations primarily as intergenerational and identifies the terms for the roles of the two male lovers, erastes, "the lover," that is, the older active partner, and eromenos, "the beloved", indicating the adolescent male beloved. Basing himself on the work of Sir John Beazley, Dover divides the evidence of surviving vase painting depicting these type of relationships into three types. Some show the erastes offering a gift to the eromenos. Others depict the "up and down" gesture – the erastes attempting to fondle the eromenos while, with the other hand, he is turning his head to look into his eyes. The third group, usually older black-figure vases, show the couple engaging in interfemoral intercourse or, in a couple of instances, anal intercourse. Traditionally, the young beloved, when he reached the age of manhood – indicated in the iconography by his growth of a beard – would switch roles and become a lover himself, seeking out a younger male for a love relationship. Later in life he was expected to marry and produce new citizens for the state.