Greek god of gayness
The Queerness of Dionysos
by Sannion
Dionysos is a queer God. It’s certainly not all that there is to him – in fact, when I think about Dionysos it’s usually stuff like his wildness, his connection to the planet, the dead, animals, masks, dancing, drunkenness, madness, spiritual intoxication, liberation, transformation, fertility and sensuality that come to intellect. But queerness is a big part of who he is, and it runs through all of the other stuff as adequately.
And by homosexual I don’t just mean that he’s got a thing for handsome juvenile boys, of which there were certainly plenty:
“Beardless Ampelos, they say was the child of a nymph and a satyr and loved by Bacchus on Ismarian hills. He trusted him with a vine hanging from the leaves of an elm; it is now named for the boy. The reckless youth fell picking gaudy grapes on a branch. Liber lifted the lost boy to the stars.” – Ovid, Fasti 3.407ff
“Dionysos was loved by Chiron, from whom he learned chants and dances, the bacchic rites and initiations.” – Ptolemy Chennos, as quoted in Photius’ Bibliotheka 190
“Plato, in Adonis, says that an oracle was given to Cinyras concerning his son Adonis which read: ‘O Cinyras, king of the C
As stated by someone earlier, bisexuality as we know it probably did not exist. There were scant stigma's on the subject, and apparently many of the ancient people had no reason to disaprove of such a connection. In fact, there are very few instances of the ancients disapproving of any sexual proceed to a point where it would socially ruin a person.
The ancient Egyptian pharaohs would usually marry their sister, or a close relative. At the identical time it was considered false for a normal, common, person to do. Why? I don't know, but many historians utter the reason lies in the godlike view of the pharaohs. The pharaohs were divine beings, and therefore did not own the same limitations as the common man.
Being so, one would imagine the ancient mediterranean people regarded gods as completely above sexual reprimand. I.e. they could do anything they wanted, without
Greek Homosexuality
Homosexuality: sexual attraction to persons of the equal sex. In ancient Greece, this was a normal practice.
Introduction
Violent debate, enthusiastic writings, shamefaced silence, flights of fantasy: few aspects of ancient society are so hotly contested as Greek pederasty, or - as we shall see below - homosexuality. Since the British classicist K.J. Dover published his influential publication Greek Homosexuality in 1978, an avalanche of recent studies has appeared. We can discern two approaches:
- The historical approach: scholars are looking for the (hypothetical) roots of pederasty in very ancient initiation rites and try to reconstruct a development. Usually, a lot of fantasy is required, because our sources do not often consult to these ancient rites.
- The synchronistic approach: scholars attend upon homosexuality in fifth and fourth-century Athens, where it was integral part of social life.
In the present article, we will use the second approach, although we won't neglect the first one. There are many sources of evidence: lyrical poetry, vases, statues, myths, philosophical treatises, speeches, inscriptions, medical texts, tragedies, comedi
“Kaos,” created, written and produced by the nonbinary Charlie Covell, is an apt title for the cheeky, imaginative and queer new series on Netflix about Greek mythology.
Set in contemporary times, the show opens with Zeus (Jeff Goldblum), acting vain and insecure as he fears a prophecy will come real and end his days as King of the Gods. If the desecration of his monument in Krete [sic] is any indication, he is not wrong to worry.
The series is narrated by Prometheus (Stephen Dillane), who is bound to a rock so an eagle can repeatedly peck at his liver. He advises viewers that three humans — Eurydice (Aurora Perrineau), who goes by “Riddy” here, Caeneus (trans actor Misia Butler), and Ari(adne) (Leila Farzad) — are going to deliver Zeus down. This development causes Zeus to go a little mad. His wife Hera (Janet McTeer) tries to reassure him, although his brother, Poseidon (Cliff Curtis), is slightly less bothered.
The show features plenty of queer visibility in every episode. Zeus’ son, Dionysus (Nabhaan Rizwan), the God of Pleasure, is pansexual and seen performing intimate acts with men and women. To curry favor with his father, he secretly helps Orpheus (Killian Scott) t