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The article correctly points out that the Greeks didn't have a concept of "homosexuality" in the sense used today [1], and that the more accurate word for the G
by cato_the_elder 4y ago
The article correctly points out that the Greeks didn't have a concept of "homosexuality" in the sense used today [1], and that the more accurate word for the Greek practice is "pederasty". [2]
Yet, they put "Greek homosexuality" in the subtitle.
[1]: "For the Greeks, the concept did not meaningfully exist at all; the social identities we today understand in the West as a gay man or a bisexual woman, for example, simply weren’t something that people recognized."
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty_in_ancient_Greece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty_in_ancient_Greece
- rpmisms 4y agoYour username is apt. This title is definitely clickbait-y. The Greeks had a very limited, socially acceptable context for homosexual acts, they had nothing (that we know of) resembling modern attitudes. This is all with notable asterisks, however. "Sapphic" and "Lesbian" originate from a poet, Sappho, residing on the Greek island of Lesbos, whose work was very... Lesbian.
- hnzix 4y agoAnd the Romans divided sexual acts more into active/passive. Thus homosexuality was reasonably acceptable if you were topping, while heterosexual cunnilingus was frowned upon.