Archaic Greece (8th-6th centuries BCE) is a society which we might call “before Sexuality” : in the sexual and romantic relations that characterise it, the criterion of age plays a different role from that of modern Western societies. This applies not only to the framework of marriage, but also to the context of homoerotic relations – known as pederastic – as sung in the poetry of the aristocratic banquet (Theognis, Anacreon) and other communitarian contexts (Alcman, Sappho). Greek marriage is asymmetrical in terms of age, and it is necessary to remove the preconceived idea that female homoerotic relations between women were any more egalitarian than those between men. Consequently, if we are to understand the connection between age and sexuality in Archaic Greece, the approach to Greek matters of love (éros) must distinguish between asymmetry of age and romantic reciprocity (philótēs).
L’âge des amours. Genre et réciprocité érotique en Grèce archaïque
CACIAGLI, STEFANO;
2015
Abstract
Archaic Greece (8th-6th centuries BCE) is a society which we might call “before Sexuality” : in the sexual and romantic relations that characterise it, the criterion of age plays a different role from that of modern Western societies. This applies not only to the framework of marriage, but also to the context of homoerotic relations – known as pederastic – as sung in the poetry of the aristocratic banquet (Theognis, Anacreon) and other communitarian contexts (Alcman, Sappho). Greek marriage is asymmetrical in terms of age, and it is necessary to remove the preconceived idea that female homoerotic relations between women were any more egalitarian than those between men. Consequently, if we are to understand the connection between age and sexuality in Archaic Greece, the approach to Greek matters of love (éros) must distinguish between asymmetry of age and romantic reciprocity (philótēs).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
