Love Is Love: A Review of Ancient Greek Homosexuality

Figure 1: Athenian Amphora dated to 540 BC

 

There is a great deal of scholarship concerning ancient Greek culture and society.  This in part due to their prolific written and material cultural record, as well as their influence on contemporary cultures and arts.  Despite this there were aspects of Greek history and culture that were willfully ignored or reinterpreted to meet current and dominate values.  It was not until 1978 when K.J. Dover published his monumental work on Greek homosexuality that attentions slowly shifted, and the topic eventually became more acceptable to address.  Today’s blog post will provide a review of what is currently known about Greek homosexuality.

 

Before an in-depth discussion is begun, however, it is important to acknowledge the limitations of much of the current scholarship.  There has been an over emphasis on Greek elites, particularly men, in the study of homosexuality.  There is limited information and study on Greek women and their perceptions or activities in terms of their sexualities, and there is not much concerning nonelite Greek’s values or activities concerning sexuality. 

 

Much of the current scholarship has been widely influenced by the interpretations made by Dover, who studied Greek material culture and literature in reaching his conclusions.  He believed that Greek homosexuality was embedded in the fabric of Greek elite society, and it was a rite of passage that was institutionalized in many ways into the elite Greek educations.  Older men would engage in sexual relationships with adolescent males.  The adolescents would receive educations in arts, philosophy, and politics, while the adult men would secure and reaffirm their masculine identities as the dominator.  This is reaffirmed in Homer’s Iliad, wherein two Greek heroes, Achilles and Patroclus, were engaged in a mixed age sexual relationship, as well as in various vases that show an adult male engaging in sexual acts with a younger, submissive male (Figure 1).  Adult men would end their relationships with their adolescent partners when they reached adult ages, in which case the newly adult partners would engage in their own relationships with younger partners.

 

This idea was widely held for an extended period and remains steadfast among various current Greek scholars.  It is one, however, that is being reanalyzed more recently based on a review of the evidence.  First, Achilles was younger but he was the dominator of the relationship, which calls into the notion that these relationships were about power.  Additionally, there are various vases that show similarly aged males engaging in sexual relationships, or younger adolescent males being the aggressors or enjoying the sexual attentions of their older male partners. 

 

Furthermore, there is no specific written evidence within Greek records to definitively support the notion of sexual relationships being about power.  In fact, there is actually the opposite available.  The ancient Greeks believed love was love, be it with a same sex or opposite sex partner.  This is supported by one of their origins stories that claims early humans existed with multiple arms, legs, and double the internal organs of modern humans.  These humans angered the paramount god, Zeus, who split them in two, creating modern humans with two legs, two arms, and a single set of organs.  The search for a loving partner was about finding one’s original other half from when humans had multiple limbs and organs, meaning same sex relationships were acceptable and, in many ways, expected.  Additionally, the ancient Greeks never had terms or designations for homosexual or heterosexual relationships.  In fact the term homosexual did not exist until 1869 when it was coined by the Hungarian physician Karoly Maria Benkert.  This means the notions of sexuality as we understand them today is a modern invention and such notions about sexuality did not exist in the past.

 

As previously noted the scholarship on female sexuality and the sexual relationships of nonelites is limited, but it is ongoing.  There is evidence that suggests that female same sex relationships did exist (based on the poetry by Sappho who wrote about her love for various women), as well as laws among various ancient Greek city states that privileged same sex relationships.  As this area of study is no longer considered taboo more and more information concerning sexuality among ancient Greeks, and other societies around the world, should become available and illuminate our understanding of love and sexual relations both in the past and today.

 

Bibliography

Cartlidge, B. (2019, February 27). LGBT History Month - Homosexuality in Ancient Greece. Retrieved from University of Liverpool Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/archaeology-classics-and-egyptology/blog/2019posts/homosexuality-in-ancient-greece/

Flynn, J. (2021, June 22). Lovers and Soldiers. Retrieved from National Endowment for the Humanities: https://www.neh.gov/article/lovers-and-soldiers

Livius. (2020, July 29). Greek Homosexuality. Retrieved from Livius.org: https://www.livius.org/articles/concept/greek-homosexuality/

No Author. (n.d.). Homosexuality. Retrieved from PBS: https://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/19a_p1.html

Percy, W. A. (2008). Reconsiderations About Greek Homosexualities. Journal of Homosexuality, 13-61.

 

Lavender Linguistics

Continuing with the theme of this month this post addresses how linguistic anthropologists have addressed LGBTQI identities and issues.  The study of language and society finds its roots within sociolinguistics, but this field of study allows for more specific investigations.  This is where lavender linguistics comes into play.

 

Lavender linguistics is the study of language use among LGBTQI identifying individuals.  The lavender portion of the name comes from the long history of this color being associated with LGBTQI populations, and the addition of linguistics simply demonstrates the focus on language.  It covers a variety of topics, including the use of language within specific social contexts (e.g., how LGBTQI individuals communicate among others within their group versus outsiders), focal language, phonetics, language and power (as well as discrimination), and more.  The field has expanded to include intersectional study of language as it relates to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and historical contexts, specifically recognizing culturally specific uses of language by geographical area.

 

This area of linguistics came about in the early 1990s as a result of conversations that occurred at the Berkeley Women and Language Conference.  Shortly thereafter, in 1993, a group of linguists from North America, Europe, and parts of Asia and Africa came together for the inaugural Lavender Linguistics conference.  This niche area of study has evolved over time in large part due to the fission of linguists who studied what they called queer linguistics.  This field of study that came about in the early 2000s encourages macrolevel analysis of language use, specifically looking at how power impacts language use and similarities among LGBTQI focal languages across the world.  It also calls for researchers/scholars to examine how their views affect their research into queer identities and language use.  Over time, however, the fields have begun to complement each other, rather than existing in opposition, and many scholars borrow from both theoretical perspectives to better understand language use among LGBTQI individuals.

 

References

Leap, William L. "Lavender Language." Whelehan, Patricia and Anne Bolin. The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015. Print.

—. "This Month in Linguistics History: Lavender Language/Linguistics." 2019. Linguistic Society of America. Electronic. 5 June 2023.

Moratto, Em. "Lavender Linguistics: An Introduction." 2 August 2021. The Center on Colfax. Electronic. 5 June 2023.

Prince? Princess? of Vix

Figure 1: Reproduction of the Vix burial

 

In January 1953 a remarkable discovery was made in the Burgundy region of France: the first complete Iron Age (800-250 BC) burial (Figure 1).  The excavation took place quickly but haphazardly, and it yielded various more amazing discoveries, including a burial full of lavish and foreign grave goods.  It also led to a continued controversy: who is buried in the tomb? Is it an elite female or a transgender male? Today’s blog post will address the controversy concerning the individual buried in the Vix tumuli.

 

Large tumuli (burial mounds) were constructed throughout the Iron Age Europe.  They are most often located near prominent hillforts, and they are a holdover from previous periods wherein large burial mounds were also constructed.  At the site of Vix there are several tumuli, but the one that receives the most attention is the more recent, Iron Age one.  It contained at the time the most intact burial, dated tow 500-480 BC.  The burial contained one individual who was buried within a wooden wagon.  They were adorned with various gold, slate, and amber personal adornments, including two bracelets on each wrist, an anklet, gold plated brooch pins, leather and bronze belt, and a large and ornately decorated breast plate.  The breast plate was constructed of gold and molded with various images, including a Pegasus (winged horse), predatory cat paws, and poppies.  The interred individual was also accompanied by fantastic artifacts made of bronze, silver, and ceramics.  The most prominent, however, was the largest bronze krater to be discovered (even to this day), which had been filled with mead (Figure 2).  All together the burial goods suggested that this was a high-ranking individual who had the power and/or wealth to import elaborate goods from the Mediterranean. 

 

Figure 2: Vix Krater

 

Initial osteological analyses of the individual determined that this was a female aged between 30-35 years of age.  The archaeologists at that time were hard pressed to believe that this was, indeed, a woman.  It is believed that their ethnocentric biases would not allow them to accept the presence of elite women being treated so well in their deaths, so they ultimately concluded that this was a “transvestite male priest” (note, that was the acceptable term at that time).

 

Some 30 years later a reanalysis of the remains took place.  Unfortunately, it is unclear if the remains were poorly stored or in poor condition at the time of discovery (as archaeological methods were not the same as modern day methods).  The reanalysis acknowledged that the osteological remains were incomplete, with various elements missing or partially in-tact.  The reanalysis led to a different conclusion on sex, however.  The definitive sex determination was thrown out and replaced with the assessment that this was an indeterminate individual.  The partial cranium and pelvic bones demonstrated both masculine and feminine traits. 

 

The anomalous sex determinations, however, were not brought to light for another ten years when Bettina Arnold presented her research on the Vix burial at the University of Calgary.  She asserted that based on comparative analysis of various other Iron Age burials, which included samples of male and female tombs, that the Vix individual was a female based on the specific types and placements of the personal adornments associated with the body, as well as the lack of weapons found within the tomb itself.  This, however, was not without question as there were some definitive male burials that were also discovered without weapons.  Additionally, Arnold noted that the osteological assessment was partially inconclusive due to a lack of population specific sex assessment standards.  She noted that this individual could be classified as either a robust Nordic female or a gracile Mediterranean male.

 

Ultimately, no definitive conclusions about the sex or gender of the Vix burial has been reached.  Some contemporary scholars are calling for a reanalysis of the burial and remains.  They request that the burial and remains be reevaluated without prejudice or bias, noting that gender roles and identities may have been vastly different from today.  This means that there is a potential for elite females to have been lavishly treated in death, while also allowing for the possibility of transgendered identities to have existed in the past, as well.  Hopefully with greater awareness, a more culturally relativistic approach, and modern analytical methods a more definitive answer can be reached.

 

Bibliography

Arnold, B. (1991). The Deposed Princess of Vix: the Need for An Engendered European Prehistory. The Archaeology of Gender: Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Conference of the Archaeological Association of the University of Calgary (pp. 366-374). Calgary: The University of Calgary.

Knüsel, C. J. (2002). More Circe Than Cassandra: The Princess of Vix in Ritualized Social Context. European Journal of Archaeology, 275–308.

Lewis, C. (2022, September 25). Impact on Gender Roles in Archaeology. Retrieved from Real Archaeology: https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/2022/09/25/impact-on-gender-roles-in-archaeology/

Weismantel, M. (2013). Towards a Transgender Archaeology: A Queer Rampage through Prehistory. In S. Stryker, & A. Z. Aizura, The Transgender Studies Reader 2 (pp. 319-334). New York: Routledge.