Social Divisions
(A small section of an article about the economy and society in Classical Greece)
Title: Economy And Society In Classical Greece
Author: Robert A. Guisepi
Author: Robert A. Guisepi
As with many aspects of Greek culture, homosexuality was almost certainly
more pronounced in the aristocracy than in other social groups. Male and
female peasants and urban workers worked together and generally mingled more
freely, which may have promoted greater emphasis on heterosexuality, and these
groups simply lacked the time for some of the more elaborate sexual
arrangements.
Other cultural divisions complicated Greek society. Peasants shared
beliefs in the gods and goddesses about which the playwrights wrote, but their
religious celebrations were largely separate from those of the upper classes.
At times Greek peasants showed their interest in some of the more emotional
religious practices imported from the Middle East, which provided more color
than the official ceremonies of the Greek pantheon and spiced the demanding
routines of work.
Different beliefs reflected and furthered the real social tensions of
Greek and Hellenistic societies, particularly as these societies became more
commercial and large estates challenged the peasant desire for independent
property ownership. Popular rebellions did not succeed in dislodging the
landowning aristocracy, but they contributed to a number of political shifts
in classical Greece and to the ultimate decline in the political stability of
the city-states and later the Hellenistic kingdoms.
Interestingly, conditions for women improved somewhat in the Hellenistic
period, in an atypical trend. Artists and playwrights began to display more
interest in women and their conditions. Women in Hellenistic cities appeared
more freely in public, and some aristocratic women gained new functions, for
example, in forming cultural clubs. A number of queens exercised great power,
often ruling harshly. Cratesiclea, the mother of a Hellenistic king in Sparta,
willingly served as a hostage to help form an alliance with a more powerful
state; she reputedly said, "send me away, wherever you think this body of mine
will be most useful to Sparta." More widely, Hellenistic women began to take
an active role in commerce, though they still needed male guardianship over
property.
female peasants and urban workers worked together and generally mingled more
freely, which may have promoted greater emphasis on heterosexuality, and these
groups simply lacked the time for some of the more elaborate sexual
arrangements.
Other cultural divisions complicated Greek society. Peasants shared
beliefs in the gods and goddesses about which the playwrights wrote, but their
religious celebrations were largely separate from those of the upper classes.
At times Greek peasants showed their interest in some of the more emotional
religious practices imported from the Middle East, which provided more color
than the official ceremonies of the Greek pantheon and spiced the demanding
routines of work.
Different beliefs reflected and furthered the real social tensions of
Greek and Hellenistic societies, particularly as these societies became more
commercial and large estates challenged the peasant desire for independent
property ownership. Popular rebellions did not succeed in dislodging the
landowning aristocracy, but they contributed to a number of political shifts
in classical Greece and to the ultimate decline in the political stability of
the city-states and later the Hellenistic kingdoms.
Interestingly, conditions for women improved somewhat in the Hellenistic
period, in an atypical trend. Artists and playwrights began to display more
interest in women and their conditions. Women in Hellenistic cities appeared
more freely in public, and some aristocratic women gained new functions, for
example, in forming cultural clubs. A number of queens exercised great power,
often ruling harshly. Cratesiclea, the mother of a Hellenistic king in Sparta,
willingly served as a hostage to help form an alliance with a more powerful
state; she reputedly said, "send me away, wherever you think this body of mine
will be most useful to Sparta." More widely, Hellenistic women began to take
an active role in commerce, though they still needed male guardianship over
property.
It's interesting that homosexuality was more pronounced in the upper class vs the lower ones due to one's daily contact. The upper class pursuits often left them with their own gender a majority of the day (men in government, armies, etc while women tended to keep to themselves or families). The lower classes had more exposure to the opposite sex due to shared responsiblities. I wonder if this social divide led to the rejection of homosexuality in later centuries?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Erik, it is definitely one of the more interesting things to note that homosexuality is indeed something that appears to be socially intertwined has some definitely interesting comparisons on the whole nature vs. nurture debate. It is also worth wondering if the homosexuality was just more able to be pronounced among the aristocratic class because of the fact that they didn't have to rely on a family in the same manner that a lower class citizen did.
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