Viggen Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 One in a series of conversations between historians James Romm and Paul A. Cartledge , editor and introduction-author, respectively, of the new Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander, published by Pantheon under series editor Robert Strassler. PAUL CARTLEDGE Jamie, one aspect of Alexander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 What is the significance of his sexual preferences? It seems a bit irrelevant to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 My favorite quote "wouldn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 The trouble is that the greeks had a culture of male familiarity (as did the japanese samurai as it happens, both male dominated warrior cultures), but that only implies homosexuality from our perspective. It's like they had a different form of friendship that allowed intimacy where ordinary relationships wouldn't, and there's no suggestion of any sexual intent between them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guaporense Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) Alexander was probably straight. That's because he was hugely aggressive, and his military feats were the product of his aggressiveness. Aggressiveness is heavily influenced by hormone levels and hormone levels also influence sexual preference. Therefore, Alexander the Great was more manly than most men. And yes, there was such thing as gay and straight in ancient Greece, as there is today. Sexual preferences are not the product of culture. However culture can mask the sexual preferences of minorities, like gays and bisexuals. The notion that culture determines everything including sexual preferences doesn't stand on close scrutiny. It's the product of modern Marxian influence on social sciences. Oliver Stone is the product of this "leftist" influenced culture and his film about Alexander distorts reality in favor of this type of thinking. Edited February 19, 2011 by Guaporense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurion-Macro Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 I always though he was straight, as most rulers from that time had intimate relations with men as well as women. It was just part of the culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Homosexual acts have obviously been around since the dawn of time. But homosexuality as an identity has only been around in the past century or so. As some people noted, back then you were expected to marry and reproduce no matter your true inclinations. Trying to retroactively force a modern identity construct on someone whose era couldn't understand said identity construct makes the whole issue rather absurd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryaxis Hecatee Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Also one has to remember that the judaic (and later christian) interpretation of homosexual acts was not around yet in the mind of Alexander or Caesar. At best what was source of debate was wether you were the one stuck or the one sticking out, the former being seen as passive and thus showing a lack of character, the later being seen as a normal activity since you were active and dominating. Rules like the roman prohibition of homosexuality in the army had more to do with preventing disputes between lovers and maintaining morale than any condemnation. Beside I'm not sure what makes it important to know if one former glory of the world was part of this or that category we use to analyse our society, as says Ursus it is rather stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanista Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Trying to retroactively force a modern identity construct on someone whose era couldn't understand said identity construct makes the whole issue rather absurd. Yep. I'm generalising, but as a for instance you weren't a "real man" in Classical Athens unless you were seen about town with a handsome youth on your arm. The much vaunted Spartans insisted on pederasty and the rock hard Theban Sacred Band were all lovers. Even the ancient sources allude that Pausanias - the assassin of Alexander's father - was probably a jilted/abused lover. For the Hellenes, "homosexuality" as we understand it wasn't an issue. As PP says, trying to apply a Christian - or dare I say Victorian - judgement on their sexual behavior is just daft - I'm surprised at the worthies involved in the original linked conversation to be honest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barca Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Personally, I think any attempt to categorise Alexander in terms of modern sexual identity is grossly anachronistic, but am I not right that Alexander probably did have sex with at least one male as well as with at least two females? ...via Forbes[/i] Having read much of Plutarch and Arrian, I found no overt descriptions of homosexual acts on the part of Alexander. There were certainly descriptions of his affection for his male friends, from which one can certainly infer a lot of things, and the entertainment world loves to exagerate. He may have been homosexual, and he may not have been. We really don't know for sure. Who cares? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barca Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 I will add that when I saw the movie years ago, I thought there was too much unnecesary emphasis on his sexual orientation at the expense of many other important attributes of Alexander. What made him a great strategist, tactitian, and leader of men? His Indian expedition received only cursory coverage. There was no mention of his defeat of the Scythians at Jaxartes, perhaps one of his most innovative battles, and I could go on about a lot of important areas that were totally left out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribunicus Potestus Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 What is the significance of his sexual preferences? It seems a bit irrelevant to me. That was my first thought as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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