Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece

Rating:
Summary: Scholarship without prejudice
Review: As the late Irish writer, scholar and philosopher, Iris Murdoch, observed, early Greek history 'is a game with very few pieces, where the skill of the player lies in complicating the rules'. It is the nature of this 'game' which underlies William Armstrong Percy's detailed examination of the origin and spread of pederasty in ancient Greece. Sparse and fragmentary evidence together with the consequent difficulties of interpretation pose particular problems for the objective historian: speculative play is inevitable, and to some extent, the juggling of sources as a means of furthering the author's historical predilections.

It is nonetheless an impressive study in which the technicalities do not obscure - for the less informed reader - the enjoyment of a closely argued and richly diversified discussion. Percy's espousal of the theory of a seventh century Cretan origin of institutionalized pederasty subsequently spread by the Spartans to Greece, is persuasive rather than compelling. As is clearly acknowledged in the Introduction, the Archaic period provides virtually no evidence: reliance is placed on later writers such as Plutarch, Lucian and Athenaeus. Historical texts survive in many versions about which scholars disagree more often than not: 'almost every detail of early Greek history, especially of Greek sexuality is open to doubt and indeed is hotly debated'. Repeated references to Aristotle's observation about the curbing of overpopulation by encouraging male sexual relations does little to advance the argument.

Percy is an enthusiast for his subject, though in no sense an apologist. The book is outstanding by virtue - as the author points out - of the paucity of works which treat fairly and without distaste of the topic of Greek pederasty, a term which he defines unequivocally from the outset as a love-bond (whether spiritual or sexual) between men and adolescent boys. The Greeks, it seems, showed little sexual interest in adult males, and indeed 'would be quick to condemn our prevalent androphilia as extremely distasteful and even reprehensible in that it serves no pedagogical purpose'.

This then is the crucial element in Percy's thesis: the link between pederastic custom and the rise of Hellas and the 'Greek Miracle', in spite of the acknowledged absence of surviving documents giving more precise testimony to that link. At the outset, he stresses that 'the Greeks we most admire almost always practised pederasty, at least before marriage.' The list is impressive, embracing poets, statesmen and philosophers. The Epilogue which looks forward to the 'Golden Age of Greek love' seeks to underline the argument that the intimate bonding of youths and older males transcended mere eroticism, quoting the Platonic dialogues, Aristotle and others who debated the spiritual versus the physical aspects of the 'erastes' and 'eromenos' relationship. In the wide, though detailed overview offered by this book, the argument is palpable.

The place of women in Greek society is perhaps understandably neglected in this study, except to argue a causal link between 'seclusion of women' and the proliferation of male love. The description of Spartan marriage customs and the attempt by Sparta 'to correlate marriage patterns and birthrates with population pressures' introduces a wider perspective, as does the reference to the 'love poetry' of Alcman and his 'sensual glorification of beautiful Spartan girls'. To the Greek mind, pederastic desire and heterosexual love were clearly not incompatible, on which point the author chooses to reserve comment. A brief reference to Sappho's poetry as 'a clear parallel in the world of females to cardinal features of Greek pederastic practice' has the odour of a starkly irrelevant concession to contemporary sexual politics. Similarly, the chapter entitled 'Situational Homosexuality and Demography' in its descriptions of 'womenless colonists', comradeship on voyages, and the 'parastates' (battle companion) smacks of modern sexology in its attempt to establish 'elements in the background to institutionalized pederasty'. Nevertheless, the case for the 'uniqueness' of Greek pederasty is well made.

The author intends the book for a wide audience and not just specialists or homosexual sympathizers in the hope 'that a true understanding of Greek institutionalized pederasty will at long last permit the educated world to confront the accomplishments of that practice honestly, without embarrassment or outrage'.

Rating:
Summary: Scholarship without prejudice
Review: As the late Irish writer, scholar and philosopher, Iris Murdoch, observed, early Greek history `is a game with very few pieces, where the skill of the player lies in complicating the rules'. It is the nature of this `game' which underlies William Armstrong Percy's detailed examination of the origin and spread of pederasty in ancient Greece. Sparse and fragmentary evidence together with the consequent difficulties of interpretation pose particular problems for the objective historian: speculative play is inevitable, and to some extent, the juggling of sources as a means of furthering the author's historical predilections.

It is nonetheless an impressive study in which the technicalities do not obscure - for the less informed reader - the enjoyment of a closely argued and richly diversified discussion. Percy's espousal of the theory of a seventh century Cretan origin of institutionalized pederasty subsequently spread by the Spartans to Greece, is persuasive rather than compelling. As is clearly acknowledged in the Introduction, the Archaic period provides virtually no evidence: reliance is placed on later writers such as Plutarch, Lucian and Athenaeus. Historical texts survive in many versions about which scholars disagree more often than not: `almost every detail of early Greek history, especially of Greek sexuality is open to doubt and indeed is hotly debated'. Repeated references to Aristotle's observation about the curbing of overpopulation by encouraging male sexual relations does little to advance the argument.

Percy is an enthusiast for his subject, though in no sense an apologist. The book is outstanding by virtue - as the author points out - of the paucity of works which treat fairly and without distaste of the topic of Greek pederasty, a term which he defines unequivocally from the outset as a love-bond (whether spiritual or sexual) between men and adolescent boys. The Greeks, it seems, showed little sexual interest in adult males, and indeed `would be quick to condemn our prevalent androphilia as extremely distasteful and even reprehensible in that it serves no pedagogical purpose'.

This then is the crucial element in Percy's thesis: the link between pederastic custom and the rise of Hellas and the `Greek Miracle', in spite of the acknowledged absence of surviving documents giving more precise testimony to that link. At the outset, he stresses that `the Greeks we most admire almost always practised pederasty, at least before marriage.' The list is impressive, embracing poets, statesmen and philosophers. The Epilogue which looks forward to the `Golden Age of Greek love' seeks to underline the argument that the intimate bonding of youths and older males transcended mere eroticism, quoting the Platonic dialogues, Aristotle and others who debated the spiritual versus the physical aspects of the `erastes' and `eromenos' relationship. In the wide, though detailed overview offered by this book, the argument is palpable.

The place of women in Greek society is perhaps understandably neglected in this study, except to argue a causal link between `seclusion of women' and the proliferation of male love. The description of Spartan marriage customs and the attempt by Sparta `to correlate marriage patterns and birthrates with population pressures' introduces a wider perspective, as does the reference to the `love poetry' of Alcman and his `sensual glorification of beautiful Spartan girls'. To the Greek mind, pederastic desire and heterosexual love were clearly not incompatible, on which point the author chooses to reserve comment. A brief reference to Sappho's poetry as `a clear parallel in the world of females to cardinal features of Greek pederastic practice' has the odour of a starkly irrelevant concession to contemporary sexual politics. Similarly, the chapter entitled `Situational Homosexuality and Demography' in its descriptions of `womenless colonists', comradeship on voyages, and the `parastates' (battle companion) smacks of modern sexology in its attempt to establish `elements in the background to institutionalized pederasty'. Nevertheless, the case for the `uniqueness' of Greek pederasty is well made.

The author intends the book for a wide audience and not just specialists or homosexual sympathizers in the hope `that a true understanding of Greek institutionalized pederasty will at long last permit the educated world to confront the accomplishments of that practice honestly, without embarrassment or outrage'.

Rating:
Summary: A very readable and provoking book.
Review: I am by no means a Greek historian or scholar, but I find thisbook to be exceptionally well documented, and even in those areaswhere the author admits the hard evidence is scant, he carefully lays out his hypothesis to support his conclusions. The book provides a fascinating insight into how previous historians downplayed or ignored the evidence of wide-spread pederasty and male-male relations during the Archaic period, particularly when references to the phenomenon were quite clear in Aristotle's and Socrates' works. The author also clearly differentiates "pederasty" (sex between postpubescent youth and adult males) from "pedophilia" (sex between prepubescent boys and adult males), noting the evidence showing that pedophilia was not a condoned behavior in Archaic Greece. This work is an excellent place to begin for anyone who wishes to trace how previous civilizations not only tolerated, but in some instances even encouraged, male-male relationships until the purveyors of the Judeo-Christian model vigorously proselytized their beliefs and shunned the behavior out of the mainstream. Whether a reader believes homosexuality is a moral aberration is irrelevant. If the reader can cast aside his or her preconceptions, this becomes a truly fascinating work.

Rating:
Summary: Indispensable -- a definitive study
Review: I first bought this book a couple of years ago, and only had time to glance at it briefly. At that time, it struck me as "dry and dusty," probably full of details I didn't particularly want to know.

Just recently, I realized that I had never given this book a serious look, and ordered another copy. When it arrived, I gave it a serious look-through.

What a marvellous book this is! It marshals overwhelming documentation to prove, beyond any possible doubt, that Greek pederasty was an institution which endured for a thousand years. It was comparable to marriage; every aristocratic Greek did it. (And any person who knows human beings will reassure you that the lower sections of society emulated the upper sections.) At the age of 22-23, the young Greek male adult selected a younger male of age 15-16, and entered into a male-male bond which endured (typically) for seven years. At the end of that time, the older male (now aged 30) would be ready for marriage and fatherhood, while the younger male (now aged 22-23) would be ready to assume the role of the "older male" by selecting his beloved from the ranks of boys aged 15-16.

Why would they do such a thing? To control population growth. It was initially put into place as a method of birth control. But, as usual, the Law of Unintended Consequences had its way: just a few decades after the institutionalization of pederasty, the first Greek school appeared! That was a highly significant turning-point in Western history, as was the cultural efflorescence apparently touched off by this new institution.

These are the facts. What the Christian world has done, while attempting to deal with these facts, is itself a fascinating story. We may note, at the minimum, that (1) they destroyed the institution (stupidly destroying a Greek custom because they were disgusted by Roman sexual habits) (2) that they destroyed (or neglected) all Greek literature which touched on this subject -- the books are, 99 percent of them, lost (3) they launched the Big Lie Campaign -- to the effect that all societies, past and present, had always viewed sexual behavior between males as a Deadly Sin. This may seem silly to some people reading this review, but as recently as 1970 American authors were purveying this Big Lie.

It is time for us to confront the truth here. And at least part of the truth is this: Muslims are united in detesting pork, although they have never tasted it, while Christians are united in detesting love between people of the same sex (although they have never really tasted it, either). The only factor at work here is blind religious prejudice, AKA taboo.

Time to grow up!

Highest recommendation!

Rating:
Summary: High on primary sources
Review: I'm both surprised at and in admiration of just how much Percy's study relies on ancient texts, and considering the trickiness of doing just that, he's pulled off a wonderful work. The arguments for a Cretan institutionalization of pederasty/pedagogy are compelling, but equally of interest are the associated discussions of different cities, regions, and customs throughout archaic and classical Greece.

Rating:
Summary: eye opening
Review: if this book is anywhere near true, men have been missing out on a lot of action for almost two thousand years

mind boggling if true

jimmy