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These relationships existed because the modern concept of marriage between loving partners was not the norm, and men and women generally remained segregated from each other in society. Marriages became social and political alliances which were made primarily for the creation of legitimate offspring. Love and emotional fulfillment were mostly found in homosexual relationships, not marriages. Literature from that period can provide many examples of different views on homosexuality. For instance, in the Iliad, the traditional "erastes/eromenos" relationship is exhibited in the friendship between Achilles and Patroclus. Whether or not the relationship was physical, and those of the time assumed it was, the two of them gained personal fulfillment from their relationship with each other. On the other hand, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata male homosexual relationships are thought of to be one of the reasons the males of Athens remain at war for such a long time. It is thought of, by the women in the story, of being an obstacle to maintaining a harmonious...
Finally in the poetry of Sappho the female view of the homosexual relationship is explored with the result being a similar emotional bond between females involved in homosexual relationships. Sappho rejects the traditional view of the Ancient Greeks that lesbian relationships are an expression of uncontrollable female lust and destructive to society. She asserts that the same bond that is present between males involved in homosexual in present in female homosexual relationships as well, and the emotional fulfillment absent from ancient Greek marriages can be found between two loving females.
References
Aristophanes, and Jeffery Henderson. (1996). Three Plays by Aristophanes. London,
Routledge. Print.
Homer, and Richard Lattimore. (1967). Great Books of the Western World: The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. Print Sappho, and Anne Carson. (2002). If Not Winter, Fragments of Sappho. New York:
Alfred Knopf. Print.
Anatomy of an Aesthete The Picture of Dorian Gray and the Rise of Aestheticism Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray is the manifesto of Late Victorian Aestheticism. The Late Victorian Era was characterized by numerous artistic and literary movements that were reactions to the growing industrialization and homogenization of contemporary society. As trains, telephones, and factories rushed humankind headlong to an unknown future, many of the greatest lights of the Age looked
The Hebrew bible also view sexual relations as highly divine (Isaak, 1998). Some suggest that Paul preferred that "Christians remain unmarried" and that sexuality and sexual activity may be akin to human weakness, even though Jesus accepted the "institution of marriage" (Isaak, 1998). The predominant theme in these texts suggest that intercourse outside of marriage is wrong, and as such homosexuality is wrong because it is not conducive to sex
" Thus, some may argue that the Sappho's implication for modern gender roles is stunning, suggesting that feminism is not a modern movement, but had its roots as far back as Sappho's time. In addition to its implications for gender and all humanity, Sappho's poetry is of special significance regarding the topic of homosexuality. North writes that two important terms used by homosexual women today come from Sappho and her surroundings --
" James a.S. McPeek further blames Jonson for this corruption: "No one can read this dainty song to Celia without feeling that Jonson is indecorous in putting it in the mouth of such a thoroughgoing scoundrel as Volpone." Shelburne asserts that the usual view of Jonson's use of the Catullan poem is distorted by an insufficient understanding of Catullus' carmina, which comes from critics' willingness to adhere to a conventional -- yet incorrect
In this reading, Dobyns' "Counterparts" is his statement of personal philosophy that argues the only way to reach the Apollonian ideals is to work with, and embrace, the Dionysian and thus create a whole, or a yin-yang. This practice of using the Dionysian in order to achieve the Apollonian is a common strategy used in Dobyns' poetry. Likewise, poet Frank O'Hara also uses Apollonian themes in the majority of his
" These lines are a clear reference to how Housman felt about his homosexual lifestyle, for after his appointment in 1892 as professor of Latin at University College in London, Housman became "convinced that he must live without love" which drove him to become "increasingly reclusive" as a Latin scholar and poet ("A.E. Housman Biography," Internet). Also, Housman makes it quite evident that without love (in this case, the love