"In the early days of ancient Greece, queer love was celebrated. The most famous warrior in antiquity loved another man, the poet whose lyrics were memorised by philosophers and kings sang of her desire for women. Men could swear oaths of undying love and live out the rest of their lives together in peace. What fragments survive of this ancient world all tell us one thing: it was not a sin to be queer."
"He follows the traces of this sinister idea as it swept across the ancient Mediterranean. Inequality, fear and an obsession with self-control-this is how societies turn on their queer citizens, time and time again, since the dawn of history. This is a powerful story that draws on the rich world of the ancients to reveal how homophobia infected Western religion and ideology-the consequences of which we are still living with today."
Ancient Greece celebrated queer love, with celebrated warriors, poets, and citizens freely forming lasting same-sex bonds and publicly expressed desire. Surviving fragments indicate queerness was not considered sinful. The origins of Western homophobia can be traced across the ancient Mediterranean, where a sinister idea spread and took root. These roots repeatedly coincided with social crises: inequality, fear, and an obsession with self-control. Those dynamics enabled societies to turn on queer citizens and reshaped social and religious institutions. The infection of Western religion and ideology by homophobic norms produced lasting consequences that persist today and suggest pathways for resistance.
#origins-of-homophobia #ancient-greece #western-religion-and-ideology #inequality-and-social-control
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