depicting a lover and a beloved kissing. Artist: painter of Briseis. Around 480 BCE. Louvre Museum The
erastês-erômenos relationship played a role in the
Classical Greek social and educational system, had its own complex social-sexual etiquette and was an important social practice among the upper classes. Pederasty has been understood as educative, and Greek authors from
Aristophanes to
Pindar felt it naturally present in the context of aristocratic education (
paideia). In general, pederasty as described in Greek literary sources is a practice reserved for aristocrats, perhaps to be regarded as a
dyadic mentorship which sometimes could take a physical dimension. There is a debate regarding the prevalence and acceptance of pederasty. Some scholars believes pederasty was common only among the aristocracy, and that such relationships were not widely practised by the common people (
demos). One such scholar is
Bruce Thornton, who argues that insults directed at pederastic males in the comedies of
Aristophanes show the common people's dislike for the practice. According to Thomas Hubbard pederasty was not the norm, at least at Athens, and was highly problematized. Other scholars, such as , claims that in
Athens, same-sex desire was part of the "sexual ideology of the democracy", shared by the elite and the
demos, as exemplified by the tyrant-slayers
Harmodius and Aristogeiton. A 4th century historian, Euphor, claims that in
Crete, in order for the suitor to carry out the ritual abduction, the father had to approve him as worthy of the honor. Among the Athenians, to protect their sons from inappropriate attempts at seduction, fathers appointed slaves called
pedagogues to watch over their sons. However, according to
Aeschines, Athenian fathers would pray that their sons would be handsome and attractive, with the full knowledge that they would then attract the attention of men and "be the objects of fights because of erotic passions". The age range when boys entered into such relationships was consonant with that of Greek girls given in marriage, often to adult husbands many years their senior. Boys, however, usually had to be courted and were free to choose their mate, while marriages for girls were arranged for economic and political advantage at the discretion of father and suitor. Typically, after their relationship had ended and the young man had married, the older man and his protégé would remain on close terms throughout their life. However, it is important to note that not all pederastic relationships were sexual—many were simply forms of
friendship and guidance. In parts of Greece, pederasty was an acceptable form of
homoeroticism that had other, less socially accepted manifestations, such as the sexual use of slaves or being a
pornos (
prostitute) or
hetairos (the male equivalent of a
hetaira). Scholars like Dover makes the claim that visiting prostitutes of either sex was considered completely acceptable for a male citizen. However, adolescent citizens of free status who prostituted themselves were sometimes ridiculed, and were permanently prohibited by
Attic law from performing some seven official functions because it was believed that since they had sold their own body "for the pleasure of others" (, ''eph'
hybrei''), they would not hesitate to sell the interests of the community as a whole.
Political expression File:Attic Kylix - Douris - Python - Around 480BCE - J. Paul Getty Museum - Object Number; 86.AE.290 - (3).jpg|thumb|right|Pederastic courtship scenes. It has been commented that "Hares were popular love gifts in Athenian society ... [and] ... a hare can be seen siting tamely on the lap of one of the seated figures." and Timarchus was known to have spent his adolescence as the sexual partner of a series of wealthy men in order to obtain money. Such a law existed because it was believed that anyone who had sold their own body would not hesitate to sell the interests of the city-state.
Athenaeus states that "Hieronymus the
Aristotelian says that love with boys was fashionable because several tyrannies had been overturned by young men in their prime, joined together as comrades in mutual sympathy".He gives as examples of such pederastic couples the Athenians
Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who were credited (perhaps symbolically) with the overthrow of the tyrant
Hippias and the establishment of democracy, and also
Chariton and Melanippus. Others, such as
Aristotle, claimed that the Cretan lawgivers encouraged pederasty as a means of
population control, by directing love and sexual desire into non-procreative channels:
Philosophical expression Phaedrus in Plato's
Symposium remarks: But at the end of the dialogue, the speaker Socrates, just as in other platonic dialogue 'Phaedrus', presents a chaste, non sexual pederastic relationship as the ideal. According to Dover, Both Xenophon and Plato Socrates was against homosexual copulation and instead advocated platonic relationships. In
Laws, Plato takes a much more austere stance to homosexuality than in previous works, stating: Plato states here that "we all", possibly referring to society as a whole or simply his social group, believe the story of Ganymede's homosexuality to have been fabricated by the Cretans to justify immoral behaviours. The Athenian stranger in Plato's
Laws blames pederasty for promoting civil strife and driving many to their wits' end, and recommends the prohibition of
sexual intercourse with youths, laying out a path whereby this may be accomplished.
In myth and religion . A copy of an original by Wilhelm Böttner. Originally painted circa 1780. This copy was painted in the 19th century. The
myth of
Ganymede's abduction by
Zeus was invoked as a precedent for the pederastic relationship, as
Theognis asserts to a friend: The myth of Ganymede's abduction, however, was not taken seriously by some in Athenian society, and deemed to be a Cretan fabrication designed to justify
homoeroticism. The 5th century BC poet
Pindar constructed the story of a sexual pederastic relationship between
Poseidon and
Pelops, intended to replace an earlier story of cannibalism that Pindar deemed an unsavoury representation of the Gods. The story tells of Poseidon's love for a mortal boy, Pelops, who wins a chariot race with help from his admirer Poseidon. and carrying a cockerel, a love gift from Zeus who is depicted in pursuit on the other side of this Attic
krater. Around 500 BCE Though examples of such a custom exist in earlier Greek works, myths providing examples of young men who were the lovers of gods began to emerge in
Classical literature, around the 6th century BC. In these later tales, pederastic love is ascribed to
Zeus (with
Ganymede),
Poseidon (with
Pelops),
Apollo (with
Cyparissus,
Hyacinthus and
Admetus),
Orpheus,
Heracles,
Dionysus,
Hermes, and
Pan. All the
Olympian gods except
Ares are purported to have had these relationships, which some scholars argue demonstrates that the specific customs of
paiderastia originated in initiatory rituals. Myths attributed to the homosexuality of
Dionysus are very late and often post-pagan additions. The tale of Dionysus and
Ampelos was written by the Egyptian poet
Nonnus sometime between the 4th and 5th centuries CE, making it unreliable. Likewise, the tale of Dionysus and
Prosymnus, which tells that the former anally masturbated with a fig branch over the latter's grave, was written by
Christians, whose aim was to discredit pagan mythology.
Dover, however, believed that these myths are only literary versions expressing or explaining the "overt" homosexuality of
Greek Archaic culture, the distinctiveness of which he contrasted to attitudes in other ancient societies such as Egypt and Israel.
Creative expression Visual arts Greek vase painting is a major source for scholars seeking to understand attitudes and practices associated with
paiderastia. Hundreds of pederastic scenes are depicted on
Attic black-figure vases. In the early 20th century,
John Beazley classified pederastic vases into three types: • The
erastês and
erômenos stand facing each other; the
erastês, knees bent, reaches with one hand for the beloved's chin and with the other for his genitals. • The
erastês presents the
erômenos with a small gift, sometimes an animal. • The standing lovers engage in
intercrural sex. Certain gifts traditionally given by the
erômenos became symbols that contributed to interpreting a given scene as pederastic. Animal gifts—most commonly hares and roosters, but also deer and felines—point toward hunting as an aristocratic pastime and as a metaphor for sexual pursuit. These animal gifts were commonly given to boys, whereas women often received money as a gift for sex. This difference in gifts furthered the closeness of pederastic relations. Women received money as a product of the sexual exchange and boys were given culturally significant gifts. Gifts given to boys are commonly depicted in
ancient Greek art, but money given to women for sex is not. The explicit nature of some images has led in particular to discussions of whether the
erômenos took active pleasure in the sex act. In most images of pederastic scenes the youthful beloved is pictured without an erection; his penis "remains flaccid even in circumstances to which one would expect the penis of any healthy adolescent to respond willy-nilly". One painting on a bowl from the Athens National Museum shows a pederastic scene where both of the figures have erect penises. Fondling the youth's genitals was one of the most common images of pederastic courtship on vases, a gesture indicated also in
Aristophanes' comedy
Birds (line 142). Some vases do show the younger partner as sexually responsive, prompting one scholar to wonder, "What can the point of this act have been unless lovers in fact derived some pleasure from feeling and watching the boy's developing organ wake up and respond to their manual stimulation?" Chronological study of the vase paintings reveals a changing aesthetic in the depiction of the
erômenos. In the 6th century BC, he is a young beardless man with long hair, of adult height and physique, usually nude. As the 5th century begins, he has become smaller and slighter, "barely pubescent", and often draped as a girl would be. No inferences about social customs should be based on this element of the courtship scene alone.
Poetry "the relationship, in any case, is left vague". In general, Theognis (and the tradition that appears under his name) treats the pederastic relationship as heavily pedagogical.
Theocritus, a
Hellenistic poet, describes a kissing contest for youths that took place at the tomb of a certain
Diocles of Megara, a warrior renowned for his love of boys; he notes that invoking
Ganymede was proper to the occasion. ==Sexual practices==