The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a key element of the myths associated with the Trojan War. Its exact nature has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times. In the Iliad, it is clear that the two heroes have a deep and extremely meaningful friendship, but the evidence of a romantic or sexual element is equivocal. Achilles is tender towards Patroclus, while he is callous and arrogant towards others. Commentators from the classical period on have tended to interpret the relationship through the lens of their own cultures. Thus, in Athens during the 5th century BC, the relationship was commonly interpreted as pederastic. While some contemporary readers maintain the same pederastic view, others believe the relationship to simply be a strong friendship between two war heroes. Contemporary readers are more likely to interpret the two heroes either as non-sexual "war buddies", or as an egalitarian homosexual couple.
GAY MYTHS
The love story of Achilles and PatroclusTrojan war
The love story of Achilles and Patroclus gave the Greeks a big headache: They did not worry whether Achilles or Patroclus were gay - it never crossed their minds. They wanted to know who was the top and who was the bottom. In other words, they could not decide who was the lover and who the beloved. Some thought that Patroclus was the lover, as the stories made him out to be older and wiser. And Achilles was young and beautiful, the most handsome man of all the heroes. Others pointed out that Achilles was by far the stronger, so he had to be the lover. In truth, they were both soldiers together, and in love with each other, so it was, and is, hard to think of one as a man and the other as a boy.
Of all the gay love stories we have from the Greeks, this one speaks to us in terms we can most easily understand, in a world like ours where gay love is between two gay men - or perhaps two gay boys. Achilles and Patroclus fell in love when they both were young - they grew up together, studied under Chiron, the wise centaur together, and went to war - the Trojan war - together. They were always in love. They loved each other as boys and loved each other as men. And their love was a sexual love, at least Aeschylus thought they had sex. But, like all respectable Greeks, they did not have anal sex: according to Aeschylus, they made love between the thighs - intercrural sex we call it these days. And sex was not what was important about their love affair. What the Greeks admired about them was not how good they were in bed, but the strength of their friendship.
The Trojan War | Greek Mythology
(also The Battle of Troy)
The Trojan war was a mythological battle between the people of Greece and the people of the city of Troy. Prince Paris of Troy abducted the wife of Menelaus of Sparta (Helen), and refused to return her. Then, Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, gathered troops to attack the Trojans. Several Greek heroes led the army in the battle: Achilles, Ajax, Diomed, Nestor, Odysseus and Patroclus.
The city of Troy was surrounded by tall walls which the Greeks could not penetrate. The battle raged for nine years, and although the Greeks destroyed the surrounding Trojan territory, they could do little damage to the city.
Many of the Greek gods were involved in the war. Athena, Hera and Poseidon frequently helped the Greeks, while Aphrodite and Ares defended the city of Troy.
To end the battle, the Greeks constructed a large, hollow wooden horse, as a token. Sinon remained with the horse to deliver it to the Trojans, while the rest of the troops apparently sailed home. Sinon persuaded the Trojans to take the horse and bring it within their city. That night, several warriors emerged from within the horse and opened the city gates, allowing the Greeks, who had returned and been waiting, to enter the city of Troy and destroy it.
Some experts suppose that the stories of the Trojan War may have been distorted history, telling of a real war which happened between Greece and Troas in approximately 1200 BCE.
The story of the Trojan war is known mostly from Homer's poem, The Iliad.
Y2 Chrolli - Frolicking in Dusseldorf
Directed by John Greyson. Based on the play "Les Feulettes" Starring: Jason Cadieux, Matthew Ferguson & Danny Gilmore. Music: "Menage" (Haunted Summer) composed by Christopher Young.
Gay love turns you into a real man, but you must die to be reborn. Greek myths such as this one, the story of Apollo and Hyacinth, his Spartan boyfriend, often feature beloveds who die, seemingly accidentally. But myth is symbolic, and the deaths of the beloveds stand for their passage from youth to maturity. The boy dies so that the man can be born.
These boys were not children, of course, but well built older adolescents who would be of legal age today in most First World countries. Their lovers were not older men, but young men in their twenties, who had not yet married. The stories that the Greeks wrote about love between males were all meant to teach an ethical way to enact what we today would describe as gay love.
In particular, the story of Apollo and Hyacinth was the example after which Spartan gay love relationships were patterned. It shows that the older lovers courted the younger one, and that the younger chose the best lover he could find and requested the relationship. It also hints, subtly, that his relationship was hinged on the generosity of the older one, as well as passion, and that it was transformative.
Men who love are Gods, their friendship is the road to Heaven. Uncensored now for the first time since antiquity, this is the message that the original myth of Zeus and Ganymede communicated to its hearers more than two thousand years ago. It is an example of the ancient teachings on love that guided males towards a love that was ethical as well as passionate..... "A truly fine piece of work" — Sir Derek Jacobi (commenting on the narration).....
"It is a work of great devotion, and scholarly as well." — Vern Bullough .....
The myth of Zeus and Ganymede has many identities, one of which is an ancient Cretan teaching myth, showing the way to an honourable love between males. The power of love raises the beloved to the level of his more experienced lover, and confirms his manhood.
Based on the best-selling book "Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths"
In ancient times there was a King of Thrace by the name of Oeagrus. Not satisfied with mortal women, he fell in love with the Muse Calliope. She found him to her taste, and of their union was born a boy, whom they named Orpheus. Calliope had the divine gift of song, and she taught her son well. So beautiful was the boy's singing that the god Apollo himself was charmed, and made him a gift of a lyre that played so sweetly it made even the stones weep.
When he grew older, a herald came to tell him of Jason's quest to bring back the Golden Fleece. Willingly he joined the other braves of Greece on the voyage, using his music to help them overcome many hardships along the way. But he was eager to get back to Thrace, for he was in love with a beautiful maiden called Eurydice. Fate however was not kind to them: right after they were married she stepped on a viper, and was bitten, and died.
Orpheus was inconsolable. His harp in hand, he took the path of the spirits of the dead, and started down to the Lower World. He charmed his way past all the guardians, all the way to the abode of the god Hades, Lord of the Underworld. He begged Hades and Persephone for his Eurydice, and swore that he either would return to earth with her, or else remain in the realm of the dead forever. Their hard hearts softened by his singing, the gods relented. They told him to go back up to the Upper World, and his wife would follow him, but not to look back or else he would lose her forever. Just as he reached the surface he turned to make sure she had not gotten lost in the thick fog. She was right behind him, but had not yet stepped into the open air. Hermes the messenger, who had been sent to follow them unseen, reached out to pull her back into the realm of the dead. Orpheus had only a moment to lift her veil, to gaze upon her face one last time, then she was gone.
Heartbroken, Orpheus could not bear to look at another woman, and for the next three years he served as priest in Apollo's temple. Girls still chased after him, but he turned them all away, leaving them furious for being spurned. Not that he became a stranger to the ways of desire, not at all. It's just that now his passion was the love of youths. He taught the men of Thrace the art of loving boys, and revealed to them that this love was the way to feel young again, to touch the innocence of youth, to smell the flowers of spring. Lovers he had many. Of all, he loved young Calais the best, winged Calais, son of Boreas, the North Wind, his friend and companion on the Argos.
But his love for Calais was fated to come to a sudden end. It was in early spring, during the Dionysian festival. That was the time when Thracian women took on the role of Maenads, the wild and crazy attendants of Dionysus, the god of wine, passion and abandon. They hated Orpheus for turning them away when they desired him, for keeping to himself the boys they lusted after, and for mocking them for being free with their love. That day they came upon him while he was singing so sweetly that even the birds had grown quiet and the trees had bent down to listen. He was singing of the gods who had loved boys, of Zeus and Ganymede, of Apollo and his lovers, of how even gods can lose their beloveds to the claws of death.
Lost in his music he did not notice the angry Maenads at the edge of the forest. In a fit of rage, they stormed down on him. "No time for us sweet man, pretty man?" cried one. "Have our bodies, our voices, no power to charm you, unnatural man?" cried another. "Know then the fury of what you scorn!" shouted all, and they beat him to the ground with tree branches, and tore him limb from limb and threw his remains in the river. Orpheus, the gentlest of men, died, but his head and his lyre floated away on the river Hebros, still singing, and drifted all the way to the island of Lesbos. There on the beach a great snake rushed to eat him, but it was turned into a stone by Apollo. The head was placed in a sacred cave where it prophesied for a long time. His lyre, at the request of Apollo and the Muses, was flung by Zeus into the heavens, where it can still be seen today as a constellation.
WILDE GAYGODMYTH
The story of Oscar Wilde, genius, poet, playwright and the First Modern Man. The self-realization of his homosexuality caused Wilde enormous torment as he juggled marriage, fatherhood and responsibility with his obsessive love for Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed Bosie. After legal action instigated by Bosie's father, the enraged Marquise of Queensberry, Wilde refused to flee the country and was sentenced to two years at hard labor by the courts of an intolerant Victorian society. Written by Peter Samuelson
The Irish writer Oscar Wilde returns to London from America and gets married with Constance Lloyd Wilde in the Victorian England. They have two children, Cyril and Vyvyan, and he makes lots of money with his successful plays. He gets close to the young Robbie Ross and "leaves the closet", assuming his homosexuality and having brief affairs with youths. When he meets the corrupt Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas, he falls in love for the young man; but Bosie's father goes to the court accusing the writer "posing sodomite" and Wilde is sentenced to two years of hard labor. His health is affected by the unhealthy conditions in prison and he has a short life in Paris after being discharged from the imprisonment. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Y2 Denied (2004) (If You Leave Me Now) (JJprods)
y2 Do Começo Ao Fim (I love the way you love me) (JJprods)
Apollo & Hyacinth (Greek) - Apollo, a god of music, dance, healing and inspiration, is known for taking male lovers, most notably Hyacinth. Hyacinth was mortally wounded. Unable to save his beloved, Apollo created the Hyacinth flower from his blood. Hyacinth later became a divine patron to those pursuing same sex love.
Artemis (Greek) - Artemis is the huntress, the goddess of the Moon and the protector of women and children. Artemis rejects traditional roles, such as marriage, and feels kinship to those beyond traditional roles. Her festivals included same sex worship from men and women.
Astarte (Phoenician/Canaanite) - Astarte is a manifestation of the Great Mother, sometimes depicted as a hermaphrodite. Astarte's temples were served by the kelabim, a gay male priest caste.
Chin (Mayan) - Chin, a small child or dwarf god, introduced homoerotic relationships to the Mayan nobles. The nobles obtained youths of the lower classes to be the lovers of the noble's sons. Such unions were considered legal marriages under Mayan law.
Dionysus (Greek) - As a god of wine, madness, poetry and love, Dionysus is depicted as soft and feminine, yet virile and strong. He wore women's clothing to hide from his stepmother's wrath. Dionysus became lovers with the gods Adonis and Hermaphrodite.
Eros, Hermes & Hercules (Greek) - Eros, Hermes and Hercules granted blessings upon male couples, the gifts of loyalty, eloquence and strength, respectively. Eros was called upon by warrior-lovers before a fight, because the ancient Greeks believed victory is often achieved because of the love between men.
Ganesha (Hindu) - Most popularly depicted as a four armed, plump man with an elephant's head, Ganesha is the breaker of obstacles and linked to homoerotic worship involving anal sex. Ganesha is mixed in terms of sexuality, masculine in gender, but soft, tender and portrayed with breasts.
Odin (Norse) - Viewed as the all father and creator, Odin would often disguise himself as a woman. His relationship with his blood brother, Loki, had homoerotic overtones, and he studied the feminine mysteries of the goddess Freya.
Pan (Greek) The goat god of music and nature, depicted with panpipes, erect penis and chasing after maidens and men, particularly shepherds.
Set & Horus (Egyptian) - Horus, the divine child, was in constant conflict with his uncle Set, but one story survives of oral intercourse between Set and Horus, and Set ultimately gives birth to Horus' child. Gay priests served Horus' mother, the goddess Isis, in ancient Egypt.
Zeus (Greek) - Zeus is a sky god and well known for his sexual liaisons, including his male cupbearer Ganymede. In ancient material, he is transgendered as Zeus Arrhenothelus, both mother and father.
Apollo & Jacinthe (grec) - Apollon, le dieu de la musique, la danse, la guérison et d'inspiration, est connu pour prendre des amants, et plus particulièrement la jacinthe. Jacinthe a été mortellement blessé. Impossible de sauver sa bien-aimée, Apollon créé la fleur jacinthe de son sang. Jacinthe est devenu plus tard un patron divin pour ceux qui poursuivent l'amour du même sexe.
Artemis (grec) - Artemis est la chasseresse, la déesse de la Lune et la protectrice des femmes et des enfants. Artemis rejette les rôles traditionnels, tels que le mariage, la parenté et se sent à ceux-delà des rôles traditionnels. Ses fêtes inclus le culte du même sexe des hommes et des femmes.
Astarte (phénicienne / cananéennes) - Astarté est une manifestation de la Grande Mère, parfois dépeint comme un hermaphrodite. Temples d'Astarté ont été servis par le kelabim, une caste de prêtres homosexuels masculins.
Chin (maya) - Chin, un petit enfant ou un dieu nain, introduit des relations homo-érotique à la noblesse maya. Les nobles obtenu les jeunes des classes inférieures à l'amoureux de la noble fils. De telles unions étaient considérées comme des mariages légaux en vertu du droit maya.
Dionysos (en grec) - En tant que dieu du vin, de la folie, de poésie et d'amour, Dionysos est dépeint comme doux et féminin, mais viril et fort. Il portait des vêtements de femmes de se cacher de la colère de sa belle-mère. Dionysos est devenu amoureux avec l'Adonis et Hermaphrodite dieux.
Eros, Hermès et Hercule (grec) - Eros, Hermès et Hercule accordé des bénédictions sur les couples de sexe masculin, les cadeaux de fidélité, de l'éloquence et la force, respectivement. Eros a été appelé par le guerrier amoureux avant un combat, parce que les Grecs anciens croyaient la victoire est souvent atteint en raison de l'amour entre hommes.
Ganesha (hindou) - le plus populairement dépeint comme un quatre armées, homme grassouillet avec une tête d'éléphant, Ganesha est le disjoncteur d'obstacles et liée au culte homoérotique impliquant le sexe anal. Ganesha est mitigé en termes de sexualité, de genre masculin, mais doux, tendre et dépeint avec des seins.
Odin (norrois) - Considéré comme le père tout et créateur, Odin serait souvent se déguiser en femme. Sa relation avec son frère de sang, Loki, avait une connotation homoérotique, et il a étudié les mystères féminins de la Freya déesse.
Pan (grec) Le dieu chèvre de musique et de la nature, dépeint avec flûte de pan, pénis en érection et courir après les hommes et les jeunes filles, notamment les bergers.
Set & Horus (Egypte) - Horus, le divin enfant, était en conflit constant avec son set oncle, mais une histoire survit de relations orales entre Seth et Horus et Set donne finalement naissance à l'enfant Horus. Prêtres gay a été la mère d'Horus, la déesse Isis, dans l'Egypte ancienne.
Zeus (grec) - Zeus est un dieu du ciel et bien connu pour ses liaisons sexuelles, y compris son échanson Ganymède masculins. Dans les documents anciens, il est transgenre comme Zeus Arrhenothelus, à la fois mère et père.
Apollo & Jacinthe (grec) - Apollon, le dieu de la musique, la danse, la guérison et d'inspiration, est connu pour prendre des amants, et plus particulièrement la jacinthe. Jacinthe a été mortellement blessé. Impossible de sauver sa bien-aimée, Apollon créé la fleur jacinthe de son sang. Jacinthe est devenu plus tard un patron divin pour ceux qui poursuivent l'amour du même sexe.
Artemis (grec) - Artemis est la chasseresse, la déesse de la Lune et la protectrice des femmes et des enfants. Artemis rejette les rôles traditionnels, tels que le mariage, la parenté et se sent à ceux-delà des rôles traditionnels. Ses fêtes inclus le culte du même sexe des hommes et des femmes.
Astarte (phénicienne / cananéennes) - Astarté est une manifestation de la Grande Mère, parfois dépeint comme un hermaphrodite. Temples d'Astarté ont été servis par le kelabim, une caste de prêtres homosexuels masculins.
Chin (maya) - Chin, un petit enfant ou un dieu nain, introduit des relations homo-érotique à la noblesse maya. Les nobles obtenu les jeunes des classes inférieures à l'amoureux de la noble fils. De telles unions étaient considérées comme des mariages légaux en vertu du droit maya.
Dionysos (en grec) - En tant que dieu du vin, de la folie, de poésie et d'amour, Dionysos est dépeint comme doux et féminin, mais viril et fort. Il portait des vêtements de femmes de se cacher de la colère de sa belle-mère. Dionysos est devenu amoureux avec l'Adonis et Hermaphrodite dieux.
Eros, Hermès et Hercule (grec) - Eros, Hermès et Hercule accordé des bénédictions sur les couples de sexe masculin, les cadeaux de fidélité, de l'éloquence et la force, respectivement. Eros a été appelé par le guerrier amoureux avant un combat, parce que les Grecs anciens croyaient la victoire est souvent atteint en raison de l'amour entre hommes.
Ganesha (hindou) - le plus populairement dépeint comme un quatre armées, homme grassouillet avec une tête d'éléphant, Ganesha est le disjoncteur d'obstacles et liée au culte homoérotique impliquant le sexe anal. Ganesha est mitigé en termes de sexualité, de genre masculin, mais doux, tendre et dépeint avec des seins.
Odin (norrois) - Considéré comme le père tout et créateur, Odin serait souvent se déguiser en femme. Sa relation avec son frère de sang, Loki, avait une connotation homoérotique, et il a étudié les mystères féminins de la Freya déesse.
Pan (grec) Le dieu chèvre de musique et de la nature, dépeint avec flûte de pan, pénis en érection et courir après les hommes et les jeunes filles, notamment les bergers.
Set & Horus (Egypte) - Horus, le divin enfant, était en conflit constant avec son set oncle, mais une histoire survit de relations orales entre Seth et Horus et Set donne finalement naissance à l'enfant Horus. Prêtres gay a été la mère d'Horus, la déesse Isis, dans l'Egypte ancienne.
Zeus (grec) - Zeus est un dieu du ciel et bien connu pour ses liaisons sexuelles, y compris son échanson Ganymède masculins. Dans les documents anciens, il est transgenre comme Zeus Arrhenothelus, à la fois mère et père.
