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Since Bettany Hughes is talking about Sparta tonight and I'm gearing up for a trip to Crete, I thought I'd take a short Classical interlude...

Back in January, I recounted how I went into Waterstones bookstore fully intending to buy a copy of the graphic novel 300.  I couldn't get hold of it, and emerged instead with The Greeks & Greek Love: A Radical Reappraisal of Homosexuality in Ancient Greece by James Davidson.  Since I'm currently writing a novel featuring a Spartan, I figured it would be a useful addition to my bookshelf.  Though I must admit, I was intrigued to find out what exactly the 'bizarre Spartan sex acts' described on the rear cover were about...

At 634 pages in length, The Greeks & Greek Love is a doorstop of a book.  But the writing style is extremely engaging and easy to read, which is a rare delight in a weighty academic work of this kind, encouraging the lay-person to keep on going, even when the subject matter gets extremely intellectual.  Davidson takes his readers on a dazzling journey through the Ancient Greek world, using examples drawn from linguistics, literature, art, mythology and archaeology to illustrate his work.

He starts by establishing what exactly is meant by 'love', isolating its various forms, which range from the giddy pursuit of eros (where the admirer actively chases the object of his or her love, who remains passive and distant) to the more steadfast devotion of philio.  He then takes the reader on an in-depth tour of his subject, looking at the potential origins of same sex relationships in the ancient world, and citing a myriad of different examples which range from Cretan abduction rituals to the poetry of Sappho.  He also provides the reader with a history of the study of homosexuality in Ancient Greece, from the Victorian period through to the present.  This is extremely helpful to those with a casual interest in the subject, as it allows the reader to see exactly where Davidson's work fits into the wider paradigm.

As someone who's still blundering around trying to get to grips with the Ancient Greeks and their culture, I'm not the best person to offer an insightful critique on how it does or does not measure up to the yardstick of its contemporaries.  But from my own perspective, I found it incredibly insightful.  It provided in-depth accounts of a number of Greek myths with which I was already vaguely familiar - the tales of Ganymede, Narcissus and Hyacinthus, for example - and placed them firmly within their cultural context.  As a result, I think I can say that I learned more about the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Greek culture with this volume than from any of my other reference material, if only because it reminded me that the study of this subject is, like anything else, a matter of debate and conjecture, where meaning is fluid, and never fixed.

Some intriguing points were raised.  Same sex pairs such as Achilles and Patroclus encouraged metaphorical comparisons with the chariot-borne warrior and his reinsman, or even the pair of horses which draw the chariot.  Spartan women, by contrast, who also practised a system of same sex marriage, used instead the metaphor of the plough team, the pair of oxen which, yoked together, broke the earth so the forthcoming crop could be sown. 

The spiritual aspects were also discussed: the Ancient Greeks evidently thought that souls were originally four legged creatures split asunder.  Each individual spent their lives seeking out their other half, their 'soul mate', so to speak.  Some of these four legged souls were of a mixed gender (thus their component halves would be heterosexual) while others were same sex (homosexual men, or women).

But putting metaphor and spirituality aside, the kind of same sex relationships practised by the Ancient Greeks (whether or not they were consummated in the bed chamber) had a pragmatic edge to them, in that they allowed a greater degree of social mobility amongst the community.  For example, a young man could progress up the social ladder by establishing a relationship with an older man of higher social standing.  The older men, in turn, would favour those who merited such attention, basing their choice not only on appearance, but on whether the young man in question was of good character. 

To quote Davidson:

'I am tiptoeing towards a horribly banal conclusion.  When success in battle - the push and shove of the hoplite battle - depended so much on sheer physical fitness, there was a considerable overlap in looking good and being a useful member of the team.  When one bears in mind that 'beautiful' meant 'beautiful with his clothes off' ... then Greeks who selected 'beautiful warriors' were not being as frivolous as it might seem.  When placed in the battle-line, the eros-inspiring body of a beautiful warrior might inspire a more efficaceous terror in the opposing side (Davidson, 2008, 493)

It's impossible to summarise the findings in just a few words.  The overall conclusion was that there was no such thing as 'Greek Homosexuality': instead, there was a multiplicity of Greek homosexualities that varied greatly according to time and place, with different communities using same sex relationships in different ways. 

I found this a truly fascinating book, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has even a passing interest in Ancient Greece.  I'll certainly be going back to it for a second or maybe even a third read; after reading it through once from cover to cover, I'm suspicious that as yet I've merely scratched the surface.  Perhaps the most important thing it's done for me is to remind me that the Ancient Greeks aren't merely pale reflections of our modern selves.  In many respects, they remain enigmatic, perhaps even unfathomable.

As for the 'bizarre Spartan sex acts', well...  Evidently, Spartan boys did it with their clothes on.  I think I'll leave it at that - any further explanation would require a post in its own right!

Date: 2010-04-21 05:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bellakara.livejournal.com
Sounds like a very good book.

Date: 2010-04-21 05:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] endlessrarities.livejournal.com
I'll lend it to you, if you like.

Don't know if you'll find it quite as rivetting as A Place of Greater Safety, though!

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