*holding back internal screams of Classicist rage*
THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS LABELING SEXUALITIES IN ANTIQUITY.
There was the active role and the passive role. The active role (penetrative) was a symbol of higher status, control, and maturity–usually pointing to the older figure. The passive role (submissive) was associated with often times a lower class status (usually meaning woman, but could also mean a man of a lesser social standing), and youth (aka an unwed woman or a man who couldn’t grow a full beard).
Read about the trial of Neaira (totally kickass woman), who was accused of being TOO active in her interactions with men and society. They didn’t care that she was a prostitute, or that she was thought to be doing other women and men (rumored to even do so at the same time *wink*); they just didn’t like that she was taking on the active role, in her sex life and beyond that. They literally were like “You can be all loving with your body and soul, but cut it out with the independence.”
But also … learn your history, “historical realism” dumb-dumb. Christianity? Really? REALLY.
Zeus did not turn into a giant eagle, sweep away Ganymede, make him immortal and his personal cupbearer, just to have you erase his big old gay love by saying that the Greeks followed monotheism instead of their collected wacky shelf of polytheistic deities.
Oh, and I approve of the above image use 😉
“I know Ancient Greece-” You know shit, dude. Whoever was in charge of your classical education failed you. Badly. Starting with the very basic fact that ANCIENT GREECE PREDATES THE EXISTENCE OF CHRISTIANITY BY SEVERAL THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
The words that came to me, as I pressed my eyes shut, were, This is like coming home, like coming home to a place where everyone is like you, where people know, they just know— coming home as when everything falls into place and you suddenly realize that for seventeen years all you’d been doing was fiddling with the wrong combination.
Call Me by Your Name (2017) Directed by Luca Guadagnino
I’m just like you. For the most part, my life is totally normal. My dad was the annoyingly handsome quarterback who married the hot valedictorian. And, no, they didn’t peak in high school. I have a sister I actually like. Not that I’d ever tell her that… And then there’s my friends. Two of them, I’ve known since pretty much the beginning of time. Or at least kindergarten. One of them I just met a few months ago, but it feels like I’ve known her forever. We do everything friends do. We drink way too much iced coffee, watch a bad ‘90s movies and hang out at Waffle House dreaming of college and gorging on carbs. So, like I said. I’m just like you. I have a totally, perfect normal life. Except I have one huge-ass secret… I’m gay.
Queer Fortress 