Role of Eroticism in Greek Symposium

Classical Sympotic Poetry
(Name)
(Course name)
(Date of Submission)
Classical Sympotic Poetry
The symposium was a ritualized drinking event where aristocratic men and their peers would often hold in private houses to socialize, converse, and enjoy themselves in a hospitable atmosphere. Standing women were not allowed into these symposiums, and the gatherings were exclusively male. These choreographed social gatherings were typically held in a purpose-built room called the andron, usually situated close to the front entrance to prevent visitors from accessing the more private sections of the house. In the andron, the symposiasts would lounge on long and elaborately decorated couches stretched around the borders of the room. Bedecked in garlands, participants would drink diluted wine (the master of ceremonies would determine the strength of the wine) from particular drinking cups made from expensive metals or terracotta. The men discussed various topics, although the most common ones were philosophy, politics, and poetry. Professional dancers, courtesans, flute girls, and acrobats would enliven the evening.[R. Osborne, “Intoxication and Sociality: The Symposium in the Ancient Greek World,” Past & Present 222, no. suppl 9 (January 1, 2014): 34–60, https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtt028.]
The symposium was a distraction from everyday stressors and restraints and an avenue to transmit traditional values. Although these two functions were supposed to be conducted in a carefully regulated environment, it was not uncommon for eroticism to take centre stage. For instance, archaeological evidence of associated drinking cups draws striking vestiges of the decadent activities during the ceremonies. The few drinking vessels that survived to this day are decorated with subject material from erotic scenes personally witnessed by the artists at these symposia. The cups have decorative motifs of graphic sexual behaviour, including scenes of romantic love between symposiasts and courtesans, simultaneous homosexual relations between older males and young boys, hedonistic scenes of group sex involving men and women, and even violent sexual scenes between various actors. These erotic and violent scenes raise important questions regarding the nature of Greek sexual relations, which are often challenging to interpret owing to the disjointed, uneven, and largely circumstantial nature of gathered evidence.[Oswyn Murray, Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposion : Oxford, 4-8 September 1984 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1990).] [Zinon Papakonstantinou, “‘A DELIGHT and a BURDEN’ (HES., Sc. 400): WINE and WINE-DRINKING in ARCHAIC GREECE,” Ancient Society 42 (2012): 1–32, /stable/44079957?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.]
One of the most recurring questions regarding the sexual scenes displayed on Greek symposium drinking cups was the purpose of such eroticism in relation to the male aristocratic activity. Given the limited capacity of demographic statistics to provide useful information that can help answer the question, it is only possible to identify the role of eroticism from available texts. The Greeks of the classical period did not think that erotic desire and related sexual behaviour as a function of the similarity or divergence of the functional gender of the participants. They often rendered the sexual act a value based on its conformity to societal norms of conduct as a function of social status and age, among other factors. Erotic relations in these symposiums were between symposiasts and hired courtesans or younger men. Rich hosts would purchase the services of erotic prostitutes, especially attractive, highly gifted, and knowledgeable in numerous subjects. These expensive call women (hetairai) were usually slaves or prostitutes of foreign origin and highly educated by their pimps in music, poetry, and dance to entertain the men at the symposia.[Plutarch, “The Symposium,” Loeb Classical Library, accessed January 2, 2022, /view/plato_philosopher-symposium/1925/pb_LCL166.83.xml?result=1&rskey=s4Nb3t.]
The hetairai were meant to furnish entertainment, sexual favors, over and above, sophisticated conversation in order to appeal to the minds and erotic desires of the symposiasts. They were more mature and cultured than freeborn wives and therefore competed for the affections of the wealthy adult Greek participants as a means of social mobility. However, owing to the high costs of these courtesans, some hosts would abuse the obtainability of female servants in their households. Sexual exploitation of female slaves was a far much cheaper alternative than hiring the services of hetairai. Therefore, it was commonplace for freeborn Greek males to give their servants to symposiasts for sexual gratification. Erotic interactions between older males and adolescent boys were also prevalent in these symposiums. These adolescent boys were either aspiring politicians or male prostitutes. The latter mostly constituted mentorship where the mature and dominant partner would teach the less experienced man how to network and develop political links. The passive partner was allowed to sit at the symposiast’s feet as they gained knowledge on philosophy, politics, poetry, and related matters.[Plutarch, “Nine Books of Table-Talk: Book I,” Loeb Classical Library, accessed January 2, 2022, /view/plutarch-moralia_table_talk/1961/pb_LCL424.5.xml?rskey=b7JSkD&result=1.]
On the other hand, the male prostitutes served to gratify the guests sexually and were not allowed to recline with the mature attendees except when pleasuring them. They were required to serve wine to the guests until their services were required. These erotic relations were assessed on an anatomical level, usually in terms of real or symbolic phallic penetration. Therefore, the sexual act was polarized by the difference between the person playing the active role, the person penetrating, and the person playing the subjective role, that is, the person being penetrated. Phallic penetration usually manifests the active person’s superiority over the passive person. In symposiums, the wealthy aristocratic participants manifested their superiority over slaves, courtesans, and other participants through phallic permeation: a man over a hetaira, a member of a ruling class over a slave, or an old man over a younger man. Consequently, all sexual relationships in Greek symposiums that implied the real or symbolic penetration of another communicated differences in age, social class, and even learning.[Fiona Hobden, The Symposion in Ancient Greek Society and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016).] [Plutarch, “The Dinner of the Seven Wise Men: Chapter 2,” Loeb Classical Library, accessed January 2, 2022, /view/plutarch-moralia_dinner_seven_wise_men/1928/pb_LCL222.349.xml?rskey=Hyug9W&result=1.]
While these erotic activities may come off as domineering, since Greek symposium participants often imposed themselves on everyone beneath them, they were actually channels of transmitting knowledge and a means of social mobility. Erotic relations between an older man and a boy tended to serve as a framework for a specific form of education, and the social convention was a consequence of the quest for knowledge. The symposium was an occasion for men and older youths to bond in a highly erotic atmosphere: guests would flirt with one another while slaves poured wine and female prostitutes acted as entertainers. The hetairai would also vie for guests’ affection but not for knowledge as much as a means of elevating themselves socially. While these homosexual and heterosexual relationships were characterized by love and lust, they contained the additional emotional complexity of ambition, patriotism, and aspirations. Consequently, the generic use of ‘homosexuality’ and ‘heterosexuality’ to describe these relations cannot designate the reality of the various erotic behaviours exhibited in Greek symposiums. For instance, erotic homosexual activity between participants and younger men was encouraged and accepted, even regulated by specific constraints of social behaviour. Only adolescent boys were allowed to become the object of sexual desire, and once they became adult males, they were supposed to marry and have families.[WęcowskiMarek, The Rise of the Greek Aristocratic Banquet (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).] [Richard Kraut, The Cambridge Companion to Plato (Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006).] [K J Dover, Greek Homosexuality (London ; New York: Bloomsbury Academic, An Imprint Of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016).]
Those who broke this convention were mocked and derided, which was never the case for mature men who played the active role even after marrying. Since the passive role was restricted to a short period of the young man’s life, most homosexual activities between older men and younger inexperienced men were geared towards facilitating the latter’s entry into the masculine society and even economic as well political networks. Given the educative role of these erotic homosexual activities in symposiums, they were regarded as a status of social convention in the higher circles of Athenian society. The inexperienced young male would provide sexual favours to the mature guest in exchange for social and educative acquaintance. Desire and pleasure were less important than acquiring critical social, political, and philosophic knowledge, over and above, conforming to the social rules concerning erotic relations between males. The young men were supposed to abandon exclusive passive sexual relationships immediately after puberty with mature men. They were required to use the networks and knowledge gained to climb the social ladder, marry, and have children.[Catherine Donnay, “EWU Digital Commons Pederasty in Ancient Greece: A View of a Now Forbidden Institution,” 2018, https://dc.ewu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1497&context=theses.]
Those who failed to comply with these requirements by maintaining enduring passive homosexual relationships became social pariahs and were never respected despite their many accomplishments. Therefore, it can be said that erotic relationships between male guests and adolescent boys were mostly instructive in nature. Plato’s dialogue (The Symposium) illustrates the educati...