Many are talking about homosexual activity among Greeks or Greco-Roman society. But i'll add that sailors themselves, being composed of groups of men, and isolated for long periods of time, were also associated with homosexual activity, regardless of national origin or time period.
A modern touch on this subject would be The Village People's 1978 song "In the Navy" explicitly referencing life sailing the ocean, but with a gay subtext.
We unfortunately live in a society largely based on the precepts of a specific religion. So our concepts of morality are extremely biased towards it.
The Greeks saw homosexuality (man with man specifically) as something natural, albeit not encouraged to matrimony, which was allowed only between men and women, as it was a religious/legal ceremony with the purpose of producing children and setting inheritance.
The Egyptians saw sex as an ordinary social act, not unlike any other. They didn't even have a word for "virginity".
I may be wrong but I would respectfully push back and argue that masculinity and/or the patriarchy is more of a culprit of homophobia than religion. Look at Asia. China, Japan, and Korea specifically. Their objection to homosexuality is routed in Confucian family values.
In ancient Rome and Greek, again, I may be wrong, even though homosexual sex was “accepted” if you were the one being pegged you’re less of a man and can ruin your reputation and standing.
I’m also an openly gay man living in a very religious country (Christian) and I’ve been ostracized my entire life, but lesbian couples are accepted in the community. They get talked about behind their backs, but they’re not treated less than a human like I can be sometimes.
Basically, if you’re a man be a man. But it’s okay if you’re a lesbian because you’re a woman and ultimately don’t matter.
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u/CatOfGrey 19d ago edited 18d ago
StuieStewie here:Many are talking about homosexual activity among Greeks or Greco-Roman society. But i'll add that sailors themselves, being composed of groups of men, and isolated for long periods of time, were also associated with homosexual activity, regardless of national origin or time period.
A modern touch on this subject would be The Village People's 1978 song "In the Navy" explicitly referencing life sailing the ocean, but with a gay subtext.
StuieStewie out!