Plato and Pederasty

As I read Symposium I was completely awestruck at how the ancient Greek view of love and sexuality was both completely foreign and entirely familiar at the same time. On one hand, these men made some beautiful philoosophical statements regarding love, one of my favorites being Eryximachus' statement that "Love is a deity of the greatest importance: he directs everything that occurs, not only in the human domain, but also that of the gods." Some of these statements struck me as uncannily parallel to certain passages of the New Testament concerning love, such as I Corinthians 13:13, compared to page 32 of Symposium, passage 195B - "Love - if I may say so without giving offence - is the happiest of them all, for he is the most beautiful and the best."

So I admit they don't match exactly, but there is still the parallel concept between the two that love is the most important feeling of all; a sweet, tender thought one might not expect coming from a group of old Greek men!

On the flip side, I was entirely shocked with these men's attitudes toward love affairs themselves. I think the one thing that struck me the most was this - the idea that a pederastic relationship with a adolescent boy was far more pure and desirable than any love affair with a woman! It is just terribly fascinating to me, because this view on homosexuality and, let's face it, - pseudo pedophilia - is so alien and to today's world. In modern society, where the morality of both concepts are very hot-button issues, it is simply amazing to me to think of a culture in which this kind of behavior was not only accepted but at times encouraged as the proper path to wisdom and manhood.
I haven't gotten past page 52 yet, and I am very curious to see whether or not these two ideas I brought up will be addressed further...

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