Spartan pederasty?

[PMBardunias]

It bothers me because there is so much more to their culture that people are clearly missing.

I agree completely. I have no doubt that pederasty existed in Sparta- human nature is such that it exists everywhere and the institution of pairing young men and boys would surely fascilitate this. My problem is that Cartledge and others state that it is the pederasty that was institutionalized, drawing on anthropological comparison with Melanesians who must obligately recieve semen from older me to become men themselves. I recall reading Cartledge someplace stating that he had decided on the existence of institutionalized anal intercourse because it was used to dehumanize the young men and make them like beasts- hence the herds and herd leaders.