A Problem in Greek Ethics: Paiderastia (Forgotten Books)

Book Description:

"This book is a ground-breaking study of the Greek institution of paiderastia. This was a custom by which adolescent men made alliances with older men of a romantic and sexual nature. The young men in question were the same age as contemporary teen pop stars (approximately from puberty to the Athenian age of majority, 21). And they were treated similarly, as celebrities, showered with gifts and attention, and fought over by lovers. Philosophers such as Plato considered these same-sex unions as a remedy for tyranny, the bedrock of a cultured society, and the purest form of love.

The point of this essay is never made explicit, but it is still very relevant. The ancient Greek civilization lasted for hundreds of years, invented democracy, built amazing monumental buildings, developed advanced philosophy, drama and literature, and defeated the Persian empire. And no small part of this success was due to the openly acknowledged contribution of gay people. This proves specious the argument (most recently advanced by a certain President of the United States) that homosexuals achieving parity in a society means the end of civilization "as we know it".

Symonds, who also wrote A Problem in Modern Ethics, was an accomplished classicist, and a pioneering (if closeted) self-realized gay person. This book was originally published privately for the use of 'Medical Psychologists and Jurists'; this figleaf was neccesary in the repressive climate of Victorian England. The number of copies supposedly was not to exceed 100; however, if the number of used 'first edition' copies available is any indication the print run far exceeded that number, or possibly this sensational tract had a number of pirate editions." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

Table of Contents:

Publisher's Preface; Preface; Introduction: Method Of Treating The Subject; Homer Had No Knowledge Of Paiderastia--achilles--treatment Of Homer By The Later Greeks; The Romance Of Achilles And Patroclus; The Heroic Ideal Of Masculine Love; Vulgar Paiderastia--how Introduced Into Hellas--crete--laius--the Myth Of Ganymede; Discrimination Of Two Loves, Heroic And Vulgar; The Intensity Of Paiderastia As An Emotion, And Its Quality; Myths Of Paiderastia; Semi-legendary Tales Of Love--harmodius And Aristogeiton; Dorian Customs--sparta And Crete--the Sacred Band--alexander The Great; Paiderastia In Poetry Of The Lyric Age; Paiderastia Upon The Attic Stage; Recapitulation Of Points--the PalÆstra; Distinctions Drawn By Attic Law And Custom; Platonic Doctrine On Greek Love; Greek Liberty And Greek Love Extinguished; The Deep Root Struck By Paiderastia In Greece--position Of Women; Relation Of Paiderastia To The Fine Arts; Homosexuality Among Greek Women; Greek Love Did Not Exist At Rome--christianity--chivalry

About the Publisher:

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org

Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.

About the Author:

"Symonds was born at Bristol. His father, the senior John Addington Symonds, MD (1807-1871), was the author of an essay on Criminal Responsibility (1869), The Principles of Beauty (1857) and Sleep and Dreams (2nd ed., 1857).

Considered delicate, the younger Symonds did not take part in games while at Harrow School and showed no particular promise as a scholar. At Harrow he was exposed to the sexualized atmosphere of the English public school of his time, which he found repulsive and which he was to describe later in his memoirs: "Every boy of good looks had a female name, and was recognized either as a public prostitute or as some bigger fellow's 'bitch.' Bitch was the word in common usage to indicate a boy who yielded his person to a lover. The talk in the dormitories and the studies was incredibly obscene. Here and there one could not avoid seeing acts of onanism, mutual masturbation, or the sports of naked boys in bed together."

In January 1851 Symonds received a letter from Alfred Pretor, a friend of his, in which Pretor told him he was having an affair with their headmaster, Charles John Vaughan. Symonds was shocked and disgusted, feelings complicated by his growing awareness of his own homosexuality. He didn't mention the incident for eight years until, in 1859, he blurted out the whole story to John Conington, the Latin professor at Oxford. Conington approved of romantic relationships between men and boys, having earlier given Symonds a copy of Ionica, a collection of thinly disguised homoerotic verse by William Johnson Cory, the influential Eton Master and advocate of pederastic pedagogy. Nonetheless, Conington encouraged Symonds to tell his father, who subsequently forced Vaughan to resign. Pretor was disgusted with Symonds' part in the whole affair, and never spoke to him again.

In 1858 he proceeded to Balliol College, Oxford as a commoner but was elected to an exhibition in the following year. In spring of that same year he had fallen in love with Wilie Dyer, a Bristol choirboy three years younger than himself. They engaged in a passionate but chaste love affair that lasted one year, being broken up by Symond's father. Their friendship continued for several years afterwards." (Quote from wikipedia.org)