Greek vs. Roman same-sex attitudes?

Question

Can someone help explain any differences there were between how the greeks felt towards same sex realtionships vs. how the romans' felt? Any differences are great, I just need to understand it a bit better!

Answer 1

Attitudes toward same-sex relationships have varied in different epochs and among diverse cultural and sub-cultural groups, ranging from acceptance (as among the ancient Greeks), to measured tolerance (in Roman times). Romans viewed homosexuality with some degree of acceptance, but they did not hold it high as an admirable trait as the Greeks may have to some degree. The underlying and sometimes overriding structure of the Roman social system always came back to the social order. Homosexuality, while in many cases was looked upon mockingly, only really became a problem if it interfered with class structure and social hierarchy. As for the Greeks, the Spartans...well the elder Spartans would take on young Spartan "students" and...I'm not sure how to put this lightly, but they believed that they could "inject" knowledge into the students by homosexual acts, the Athenians looked down on this and so they never actually penetrated their...companions. I just learned much of this watching a series on the History Channel called History of Sex, Ancient Civilizations. If it’s on again you should try to watch it. http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=203543

Answer 2

The Greeks were definitely favorable to homosexual acts between males--women were more or less simply for breeding purposes and spent most of their lives in the "gynaceum" (women's quarters) of their homes. Here they basically just spun yarn and raised their children (although boys were taken from the women at the age of five)--in some city-states they only got to leave the house once a year for a special women's festival. There was a special class of women, though, known as the "haetarae" (not sure of the spelling, it's been more than a year or two since I studied them!) who were prostitutes, but extremely well-educated ones. A haetara was expected to be able to converse with a man on serious subjects such as art, philosophy, and politics. Needless to say, they were an exception to the norm. Ms. Average-Greek-Woman-Of-This-
Era was illiterate and knew very little of matters that weren't domestic ones.

In Rome, it was a little different. Roman women led a much freer life than their Greek counterparts, and were expected to be models of fidelity. As for the men, they were unfaithful with either sex. Most Roman men, however, did the penetrating because that was what a man did. Not too surprisingly, they frequently made use of slave boys for this pastime. Pedophilia was not taboo as long as one kept it out of the blood family (of course, there were exceptions to this rule as well!).

Quite frankly, Rome was a place where you could satisfy your vice, no matter what it might have been (smoking excepted--tobacco wasn't known for another millenium or so, nor was hashish, used by medieval college students).

Answer 3

The Greeks had a unique view of homosexuality. The dominant of the two was considered the male while the submissive was considered the queer regardless of gender. The Romans, however, diddn't attatch any stigma to sexuality at all.

Answer 4

Once a person had legal heirs, no one seemed to care if they also had a homosexual relationship. Children were so important, though, that it was condemned when a man didn't do his duty to his family by fathering a son.