Sexual life in ancient Greece : with thirty-two full-page plates

THE THEATRE

who is not affected by such tragic art but, according to the modern view, founds the guilt of Laius upon the love for the son of Pelops—for him the poet has not written.

In another passage I have spoken of the widespread opinion that in the Homeric poems no trace of pzderasty is found, and that it was not until a late, degenerate age that people believed in the occurrence of it in the works of Homer. Now 7Eschylus, in his drama the Myrmidons, shows that the bond of affection between Achilles and Patroclus was explained as nothing but sexual, not for the first time in the period of the decadence, but as early as the time of the most beautiful springtide of Hellenic civilization. The piece contained the episode in which Achilles, sorely offended by Agamemnon, in his wrath retires from the battle and consoles himself in his tent with Patroclus. The chorus of the tragedy was represented by his Myrmidons, who finally persuade him to allow them to take part in the battle under the command of Patroclus. The drama ended with the death of the latter, and the despairing sorrow of Achilles.

2, SOPHOCLES

In the fragments of the dramatic works of Sophocles that have been preserved, the love of boys and young men is often spoken of.

That does not appear surprising to anyone who is acquainted with the life of the poet. The great tragedian, of whose beauty as a man the glorious statue in the Lateran even to-day gives eloquent testimony above all other monuments, was already as a boy endowed with remarkable grace and comeliness. In dancing, music, and gymmic arts he had become so proficient that the crown of victory was often placed upon his dark hair. And when the Greeks prepared to celebrate the glorious fight at Salamis with a festival, the youthtul Sophocles appeared to be so perfect an embodiment

136