Thursday, March 20, 2014

In what ways are love and lust as understood in the archaic world of Sappho different from those in contemporary western society?

Archaic Greek society was primarily homosocial. in other
words, men associated primarily with men and women with other women. Much of this was
due to traditions of marriage quite different than found in the modern western world.
Men would normally marry when they assumed responsibility for family estates -- normally
in their thirties. Due to a high rate of child mortality, women normally married in
early puberty in order to maximize child-bearing potential. Women generally were
involved in weaving and food preparation, and men in agricultural management, politics
and military pursuits. Most Greek activities, and even religious rituals were segregated
by gender. This led to a society in which love was primarily homosexual. Although men
might have sexual relationships with female prostitutes and with their wives, the deeper
emotional sympathies were most often directed towards other men. In Sappho, we see also
that women, who primarily socialized with othder women, might also develop close
emotional bonds with women.

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