Ancient Civilizations And Homosexuality

Because of the ancient world’s diversity, each civilization had diverse views on homosexuality. As a rule, most societies lacked labels similar to modern ones when describing LGBTQ+. There were no terms such as “gay,” or “bisexual.”

Views on male homosexuality ranged from adoring to loathing. Other civilizations condoned the behavior, or remained opinionless.

Because female sexuality has been so repressed by the patriarchy, little is known about lesbian history. In almost all ancient places, women were expected to keep the house and obey their husbands. This allowed little room for queer desires. Contrary to popular belief, the island of Lesbos was not any less lenient with these rules. A great poet, Sappho, was considered the patron of female same-sex desires. However, even she just have lived a life ruled by her husband. There was no “feminist anarchy” and “libertine lesbian behavior” in most civilizations.

The Ancient Greeks were known for having an abundance of homosexuality woven into their culture. Several male gods would be labeled as bisexual in today’s world, like Zeus and Apollo. Ganymede, cupbearer to Zeus, was also known to be the god of same-sex relationships. Historians also suspect that Greek characters Achilles and Patroclus had a possible romantic relationship between them. A very well-known Greek story is the god Apollo's relationship with Hyacinthus, a mortal lover of his; when Hyacinthus died, Apollo created the hyacinth flower out of grief, in his lover's honor.

In Norse mythology, Loki, god of trickery, had the ability to shapeshift, which included turning himself into a woman and having a child with a man.