Queer (LGBT) in Roman and Greek Civilizations

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Table of Contents

Introduction
History of LGBT in the Roman Empire
Similarities and Differences
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The Roman civilization is known for its rich heritage and unique philosophy. Its visions of beauty, relations, and a sense of life created the basis of the current peoples mentality. Thus, Roman culture was critically influenced by the ancient Greek one. Among the two civilizations, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) refer to both gender identity (T) and sexual orientation (LGB). In both these ancient states, same-sex relations were a part of their culture and resulted from the specific attitude to men and their interactions. Females were often identified and classified by their husbands and fathers social rank, which reduced their importance to society. It gave rise to the development of a specific perspective on relations between men and their rights. As a result, males benefited from numerous privileges, including the right to have intercourse with other guys without fear of losing their social status. It resulted in critical shifts in their mentalities and the emergence of a specific attitude to LBGT relations. However, the differences in cultures between ancient Greek and Roman people resulted in the emergence of various perspectives on the issue. In such a way, there are similarities and differences between views on LGBT in ancient Rome and Greece, while modern society relies on numerous ideas created by those cultures.

History of LGBT in the Roman Empire

The Roman state had specific laws regulating the rights and duties of people living there. Roman citizens had the right to defend their bodies from physical compulsion, including both sexual abuse and corporal punishment, under the Republic (Sayre 78). Masculinity was built on ruling not just oneself but others, particularly those from the lower classes, in patriarchal Roman culture. It was considered socially acceptable for a free-born Roman to have intercourse with a woman or a man in a dominating position (Kaster 88). Young men and women were both seen to be natural objects of desire. A man may have intercourse with slaves, prostitutes, and the so-called infamous outside of marriage. It did not matter whatever gender the Roman preferred as long as he did not break any social rules. For instance, having sex with another citizens free-born wife, his married daughter, his minor son, or the man himself was considered an immoral act (Kaster 121). Fear of losing political independence and surrendering to the emperors rule increased the number of free-born males choosing a passive position during intercourse during imperial times. This is supported by texts that describe a higher number of executions and physical punishments meted out to Romes free people.

Similarities and Differences

Roman and Greek Attitudes and Roles

Although historically, ancient Rome has made a significant contribution to the LGBT people; historians have generally neglected this involvement. Rather, ancient Greece has been hailed as a model of a culture that embraced and even welcomed same-sex partnerships. While on trial for his sexual behavior, Oscar Wilde famously defended himself by citing the Greek philosopher Plato, who had created the affection of an elder for a younger man& the fundamental essence of his philosophy (Smith 217). The late 19^th and the early 20^th century activists, including George Cecil Ives, Edward Carpenter, and John Addington Symonds, played a great role in discouraging homosexual relationships through the education of the young citizens (Sayre 23). Rome was viewed by these activists as a tainted version of Greece. The incontinent emperor Heliogabalus and Nero took decadence to different heights and offended the populace by publicly marrying men.

Ancient Literature, Poetry on LGBT, and Current Representations

Martial and Catullus were two Roman poets who wrote extensively about sex, whereas Petronius, a writer, created a raucous world of orgies, bathhouses, and cross-dressing where onlookers applauded at the more attractive men. Currently, there exist several poets who fight for the rights of their fellow queers, and this has been made effective by the existence of various media and online platforms. In ancient Rome, apologists for gay relationships wanted to remove themselves from such extremes in order to win acceptability for their own desires. Thus, they adopted the Latin word vice instead of the Greek word virtue.

The same way some individuals depict LGBT in the current civilization is also the same way that some found this Romes depiction as a decadent civilization repulsive, but it is simple to see why it appealed to others. In public, some artists, such as Wilde, talked about Plato, but in private, he got his hair cropped in the style of a decadent monarch and alluded to the days leading up to his demise as his Neronian hours. That applies to the current world, where some artists support and practice homosexual acts. Teleny, an anonymously published 1893 erotic book (often credited to Wilde), draws striking parallels between its own interest with the priapic preoccupations of Rome. On the contrary, boys were represented as a vision of ideal masculine beauty by the ancient Greeks in their art.

In Roman literature, lesbian desire and the women who experience it are frequently alluded to in derogatory ways. Juvenal, the sarcastic poet, is especially harsh on women who have intercourse with one another, but that in the 18th century did not stop Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, near Halifax, from discovering his poetry on the subject enthralling (Sayre 87). She also utilized his poetry, as well as parallels to other Roman writers who had written about lesbian desire, to elicit information about other womens desires. Currently, the LGBT community has become vast worldwide, encompassing various individuals from various ethnicities, social classes, and religions. Over the last decade, the LGBT community is slowly gaining momentum as a bigger percentage of society is also embracing the orientation.

Current State

Currently, several LGBT unions or movements have decided not to conceal their societal orientation and have instead strengthened their members to come out openly. Because of such movements, there has been a steady rise in the number of gay groups in colleges and schools around the world, including Italy. The current movement aims at liberating its members, and this is irreversible, the society has got no option but to accept sexual orientation. These movements, which are getting bigger by the day are considered united and influential. In the 1970s, the Italian LGBTQI+ movement arose out of the 1968 and post-1968 demonstrations (Mikulak 552). Its history is distinguished by a jagged path, punctuated by various important periods of internal divides and disputes linked to political upheavals, like the mid-1970s partnership with the Radical Party or the 2016 ratification of the same-sex Civil Unions Bill (Mikulak 552). Three key stages in the history of the Italian LGBTQI+ movement may be recognized as leading from the founding of an anti-institutional revolutionary gay front (FUORI) to the establishment of a systematic, organized, and then institutionalized organization on a local and national level.

Problematic Attitudes

However, some individuals and governments still do not embrace the existence of such movements. Individuals in these movements most often are discriminated against by their neighbors and even in various social places. There has been tremendous progress on LGBT issues both locally and globally. It is critical to remember that the struggle for LGBT rights is not only a Western issue; several countries at the forefront of the fight are from undeveloped nations. The historic UN Human Rights Council LGBT resolution, enacted in September 2014, was introduced by the global south states, notably Latin America, and braced by nations from all around the globe, notably South Africa. Even countries that are conventionally hostile to human rights legislation, like Vietnam, Cuba, and Venezuela, backed it.

Conclusion

Rome has provided LGBT people with a model of a societal structure wherein same-sex desires were extremely visible and discussed openly, and also several authors who were very forthright about sexuality and sex. Currently, Rome provides its citizens with a multifaceted and sex-positive view of permutations and possibilities of sexuality that confronts the more renowned portrayal of Greek homosexuality. Some of the growing acknowledgment of the rights of LGBT is because of the broader societal developments, like more egalitarian gender issues, the rights movement in general, and higher regard for individual liberty.

Within that background, the LGBT individuals eventually spread out, and many learned they had a homosexual brother, neighbor, son, or co-worker, which began to shape public view and promote societal changes. It is easy for prejudice to thrive in an environment of ignorance, but when an individual is being bigoted toward a close friend or neighbor, the person might alter his/her view and attitude. However, several other tendencies found in the current outlook on the Global Agenda, such as rising anti-immigrant and nationalist prejudice, are also related to the fear of the other. In such a way, the current views on LGBT differ from the ideas accepted in Rome or ancient Greece; however, it is vital to consider that these civilizations create the basis for discussing the issue and its acceptance.

Works Cited

Kaster, Robert. Emotion, Restraint, and Community in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Mikulak, Magdalena. Between the Market and the Hard Place: Neoliberalization and the Polish LGBT Movement. Social Movement Studies, vol, 18, no. 5, 2019, pp. 550-565.

Sayre, Henry. Discovering the Humanities. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2016.

Smith, David. The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960). Biography and History in Film, edited by Thomas Freeman and David Smith, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 215-236.

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