MARJO I~ I E I~OSE NU ER C;
249
and is proj ected o nto saty rs, ugly o ld men w ith huge penises.
Philosophy and arti sti c expressio n aside, the citi ze ns of the city-state
had many grounds fo r vili fy in g o r ridi culing an unusual degree o f enthusi–
asm for eith er homosex ual o r heterosexual ac tivity. Th e results of su ch
acti vity w ere too likel y to be di sad va ntageous to th e community - per–
haps rape o r adultery, th e softenin g o f military vigo r, the temptation to
acquire mo ney di sho nes tl y to purchase sexual favo rs, o r the squandering
of an inheritan ce fo r th e same purpose, rather th an its prese rvation as tax–
able income.
Interestingly, th e rec iprocal des ire o f partners belo ngin g to the same
age ca tego ry is virtu all y unkn own in Greek homosexuality o r in Greek
marri age, bo th bein g predi ca ted o n a considerable age diffe rence whi ch
would act as a restraint o n excessivel y uninhibited behavio r. T he younge r
partner \Vas no t expec ted to be ca rried away w ith passio n fo r th e older
lover or husband , and th e o lder partn er was rega rded as the inculcator of
the social virtu es.
Conve nti o n and st ri ctures abounded in the pri va te sexual relations
between males o f the citi ze n class. T hat of th e age diffe rence just referred
to was a primary o ne, and the first appea ran ce of down o n the cheek of
the youn ger partner w as o fte n the signal fo r th e end o f the affair, since
this sign of adult masc ulinity was incompatible w ith th e passive rol e o f the
boy. It was shoc kin g if th e pursuer was younger than the pursued , and
Xenophon 's
A ll a/Jasis,
po rtrayin g Men on as a man almost too bad to be
believable, asserts th at while too young himself to ha ve grown a beard , he
treated as his passive partner th e beard ed Tharypas.
The app rove d patte rn of homosex ual courtship in class ica l Athens
was, in £Kt, startlingly like th at po rtrayed fo r hete rosexual society in nin e–
teenth-centu ry Engli sh litera ture, as
K .
J.
Dove r has no ted. Th e sought–
after youth , like th e pro per English female virgin , did no t des ire nor seek
sexual intercourse. Onl y aft e r a protrac ted di spl ay o f virtu e, talents , pa–
tience, and devo ti o n o n the part o f the lo ve r was the G reek youth ex–
pected to yield sexual t.wo rs. G ratitude, admirati o n , and a des ire to learn
from th e older love r - not rec iproca l desire - w ere the approved motives,
and the difficul ty of the chase enhanced the va lue o f its obj ec t to the older
man. Hunting was a favo rite spo rt o f the G reeks, and the very frequ ent
use of words for pursuit , fli ght , and capture in th e lite rature o f homosex–
uality sustains th e no ti o n t hat th e youth was th e quarry o f hi s love r, pro–
viding an exc itement w hi ch was lac king in marri ages based o n conside ra–
tions of property and fa mil y alli ances.
But fear o f the d isho no r atta ching in Ath eni an soc iety
to
the subordi–
nation of oneself to the wi shes o f ano ther pe rmeanted sexual activity be–
tween males of the citi zen class. Th e inferi o r positi o n o f all women and o f
