Ancient Greek Homosexuality: The Pederastic Relationship - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Pederastic Relationship is a type of homosexuality relationship that was practiced in ancient Greek. It was taken as a form of socially accepted practice by the Greece ancient customs. Though there has been a conflict among the scholars on whether it was the most popular form of pederasty in Greece, evidence shows that this kind of practice involved an elderly male starting from the early and late 20s and a younger male who is below the age of 18 years old. The older adults were known as the erastes, while the younger one would be called the eromenos. In the pederastic relationship, the most crucial aspect was the age difference between the erastes and the eromenos. The power dynamics were the key where the erastes will be in control while maintaining his dignity as a responsible member of society. The eromenos, on the other hand, benefited as he would be nurtured by the erastes to become a great citizen during his adulthood (Lear, 2014). The broader meaning of this concept in the Greece society is that the society benefited in this relationship as the erastes would nurture eronenos in matters of social gathering, military and Greek politics in exchange of sexual favors.

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Women in the Symposium

"Women in the Symposium" is a passage that discusses the women space in the Agathon's house where symposia is usually held. The passage attempts to show that the ritual banquet is internationally male space. During the symposia, a fruit-girl to entertain the guests would be present. The passage explains the occurrence that happened during one of the ritual banquets. After men settled down, they started reflecting on what they should drink that night. Eryximachus, one of the guests, suggested that they should "send away the fruit-girl who's just come in, and let her play for herself or the women in their part of the house if she prefers and that we should spend the night in a conversation" (Keime, 2015). The statement shows that women lacked space in this ritual, and they were isolated and segregated. It suggests that the ceremony was mainly men oriented. This impacted on the discussion that followed between the men in the symposia. For example, Plato's dialogue meant to show that women are inferior, and they should be excluded in men's matters as they are irrational. The content of inferiority is mainly discussed with an attempt to show that body attraction but not the mind drives the love for women.

Common Love (Specifically, but Also About Celestial Love)

In ancient Greece, Plato argued that the goddess of love Aphrodite has two forms. Aphrodite, who is the daughter of Uranus, is associated with heavenly love. He hence argued that without the mother, the divine love would be restricted to men. This concept brings the aspect of pederasty into factor. As discussed above, this type of love involves a relationship between an older man and a younger one. Plato argued that intelligence would attract the younger men in the wise old males. They will then create an interaction with the men in an attempt to teach the knowledge they require. With time, this kind of relationship will develop where those in a relationship will sort to benefit each other even with soul-oriented pursuits. This kind of love will hence satisfy both their intellectual and physical desires. Homer describes the different type of universal love, and it might arise between a man and a woman whether or not in a random act (Hall, 2016). The importance of common love is that those in a relationship help each other's to fulfill their desire, whether physical or soul-oriented.

The Use of Myth in Plato

Plato is one of the scholars who have made a significant contribution to philosophy. He is best known for his continuous use of myth as a method of explaining certain concepts in philosophy. Disagreement among the philosopher concerning the real intention of Plato in using myth has been there for decades. Some of them view the use of the myth as a logo while others perceive it as related to his theory of moral education. However, the followers of Plato have ascertained that moral knowledge is the root of Plato use of myth. The aim of Plato use of myth was primarily to provide moral education. This aspect has been of great importance in the knowledge transformation to the interlocutor and the readers (Edelstein, 2015). He used myths to pass knowledge and moral teaching but not as a logo.

Mental Pregnancy

Mental pregnancy, as described by Plato, is the idea of two typed of pregnancy. The Diotima explains different ways in which people can become pregnant in the body or the mind. The difference between the two typed of pregnancy is the intention that one has. Those people who are pregnant in the body is that there desire to make the right family and give birth to offspring who will provide them with immortality and the blessedness they desire in the future. The other type of pregnancy is the pregnancy of the soul. Plato argued that those who are pregnant in the soul are more concerned with virtual and wisdom. "However, one that is pregnant in the soul is more creative in the soul than in the body" (Rawson, 2016). The broader meaning of this text is that the most important things are to have virtual and wisdom. He encourages the characters who are involved in pederasty relationship for the search of virtual and knowledge.

Diotima's Concept of Wisdom and Beauty

Diotima's Concept of wisdom and beauty is derived from the symposium discussion that has been discussed above. After Eryximachus suggested that the flute girl should be sent away, a conversation about the nature and inferiority of a woman erupted between the males in the symposia. Different viewpoints were made through conversation. For example, Plato argued that the body but not the soul attracts those who love women. After different men gave their perspectives, Socrates engaged them in a conversation. In this conversation, he claimed to have involved with a priest Diotima. The priest in this conversation was presented as the teacher while Socrates as a naive examinee. The priest point was that at the beginning, an individual seeks earthly beauty. However, as the lovers grow in wisdom, they tend to ask for a beautiful soul or spiritual beauty (Waithe, 2018). The broader meaning is that wiser people are more interested in wisdom rather than the beauty of the body.

"What I did (no excuses!) was mess up/ Her new coiffure. Like that, in disarray,/ It looked splendidly windswept."

Ovid said these words as a way of giving an apology. He was giving an excuse after messing up with Corrina's hair though he still finds it attractive. He tries to compare Corrina's hair with that of other women. However, all the three women whom he compared her hair with had messed up hair but due to different reasons. Atlanta is one of them, he lived in the wild, and she messed her hair while hunting. The other one is Ariadne who messed her hair when Theseus abandoned him. The last one was Cassandra, who was famous since her hair was always disarrayed. The passage addresses the theme of beauty and how people take it (Merga & Mat Roni, 2018). It attempts to show that the essence of background, emotions, and personality affects how we keep ourselves.

Impotence

Impotence is the essence of men developing a problem of not able to sustain an erection which is required during sexual intercourse. In some cases, the weakness might also be accompanied by the inability to achieve ejaculation. Though there are different causes of impotent, studies show that the risk increases with age. Men in the sixties will be at a higher risk as compared to the men in the 40s. However, evidence shows that young men have been affected by the problem of impotent. Though the essence of impotent is biological, it has a lot of implication in social life. Many families have been affected where the problem of impotence affect the social relationship among families. The act of fornication has also increased among married women due to a lack of satisfaction in their marriages (Ayres, 2017). The problem is a threat to family relationships that need to be addressed.

The Witch in the AmoresIn the Amores poem, the characters are sufficiently described regarding their personalities. The character of Dispas is the one depicted as a witch. When reading the poem, one can know that the name is in line of a traditional stereotype that Dipsas suggest drunkenness. Her character utterly lime with what the stereotype suggests. However, the character of Dipsas is also dangerous. This name also evokes thirst and a snake. Besides, one is also able to learn that she is also a witch. Though there some witches in the classical literature are depicted as young and beautiful. Most of them are old and ugly, and Dispas is in line with this. The importance of the character of Dipsas is to show how stereotype and physical appearance are used to conclude people's personalities. Besides, it also shows the power of a name where people tend to behave as the meaning of their meaning suggests (Scott, 2016). An aging body is portrayed as an object of hostility and scorn.

Ovid and Class

In Ovid poems, there is an illustration of how the theme of love affects change. However, Ovid also seems to show the role of love in metamorphosis for political aspects. This is where governmental based rules are introduced in favor of a particular social class. For example, during the Augustus reign, the Ovid's emperor came up with some regulation that was primarily intended to regulate morality by creating an illegal and legal form of love. The provisions were made to discourage love outside marriage, encourage legitimate heirs, and promote marriage. Besides, this regulation aimed at combating birth rate and low marriage rate in the upper class. Adultery attracted punishment, such as being exiled from Rome. The rules of love were also class-oriented in that introduction of the legitimate heir meant limited the interaction between classes. The low social class would marry from low-class families, while the middle class marries those from the same class (Nims, 2014). It acted as a rule to create love boundaries between classes.

References

Ayres, S. (2017). Paternity Un (certainty): How the Law Surrounding Paternity Challenges Negatively Impacts Family Relationships and Women's Sexuality. J. Gender Race & Just., 20, 237.

Edelstein, L. (2015). The function of the myth in Plato's philosophy. Journal of the History of Ideas, 10(4), 463-481.

Hall, C. R. (2016). So this is Love?: Translating Plato's Doctrine of Homoerotic Love Into the Heteroerotic Relationships of the Greek Novel (Doctoral dissertation, Acadia University).

Keime, C. (2015). The role of Diotima in the Symposium: The dialogue and its double. Plato's Styles and Characters: Between Literature and Philosophy, 341, 379.

Lear, A. (2014). Ancient Pederasty. Hubbard, ed, 102-27.

Merga, M. K., & Mat Roni, S. (2018). Characteristics, preferences and motivation of avid non-fiction readers. Collection and Curation, 37(2), 50-59.

Nims, J. F. (2014). Ovid's Metamorphoses: The Arthur Golding Translation, 1567. Philadelphia: Paul Dry.

Rawson, G. (2016). Platonic recollection and mental pregnancy. Journal of the History of Philosophy, 44(2), 137-155.

Scott, A. V. (2016). Dipsas and Traditions of the Serpent-Woman in Early Modern Literature. In Word and Self Estranged in English Texts, 1550-1660 (pp. 85-102). Routledge.

Waithe, M. E. (2018, May). Philosophy's First Hysterectomy: Diotima of Mantinea. In Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy (Vol. 29, pp. 125-129).