same-sex marriages in antiquity

[eugene]

Did the same-sex marriages existed in antiquity, or they were forbidden by the laws?

[Jona Lendering]

Did the same-sex marriages existed in antiquity, or they were forbidden by the laws?

There's quite a lot of Antiquity, about thirty-five centuries...

[Quintius Clavus]

In most cultures up until recent times, marriage served particular societal purposes as well as being a heirarchical institution - the husband being superior to the wife. One historian of marriage recently wrote that traditionally marriage was about securing the right In-Laws. That said, ancient societies were aware of same-sex attraction. A few years back I saw a display of clay tablets from Ancient Babylon, which were love charms under the various signs of the Zodiac. Under the sign Scorpio was the one love charm by a man for another man. The rest were either men to women or women to men.
Many (many!) years ago, in a book dealing with the the late Republican and Augustan period "homosexuality", there was mention of two priests of Mars, who were apparently in some sort of relationship, which made them targets of invective-including jokes about which of them was the bride. I'll have to dig out my much more recent book by Craig Williams to see if he makes any mention of it. I seem to recall that the reason presumed behind the invective was due to both men being adults.
In Greek culture, while it varied some from city-state to city-state, even if two men might form a long-term relationship - like the Sacred Band of Thebes for example where they took vows, they still were "expected" to marry a woman and father children for the future of their city. We shouldn't project too much from our modern understandings onto ancient people. The exact nature of same-sex relationships are many times unclear. Many cultures considered friendship only possible between men.

[Epictetus]

The Historia Augusta claims that the emperor Elagalabus married a gentleman by the name of Zoticus. (Elagalabus 10.5) It also helpfully points out that the emperor had a bridesmaid at the wedding.

I would be hesitant on trusting everything it says, though. :wink:

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Was he the one who was so depraved, he had extra orifices cut into his body :? shock:

[john m roberts]

Marriage in the ancient world was almost exclusively about progeny and inheritance, rather pointless in a same-sex marriage. Bluntly put, a man gained nothing by marrying another man.

[Jona Lendering]

Marriage in the ancient world was almost exclusively about projeny and inheritance, rather pointless in a same-sex marriage. Bluntly put, a man gained nothing by marrying another man.

That's well-said. The only exception I can think of, is a remarriage: someone who already has children, marries someone else in the hope that the inheritance is for his own children. That would open the road to same-sex marriage. Yet, I think that you've perfectly summarized the general attitude.

[Epictetus]

And marriage or adoption wasn't even necessary for inheritance. There even appears to have been some "professional" legacy hunters, befriending childless rich people in order to be named in the will.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

If the inheritence was going to an adopted son, the issue of whether the adoptive parents were of different or the same sex seem to be totally pointless.

[PMBardunias]

Something that we need to stress in a discussion of this type is that concepts like Homosexual and Same-sex are not very applicable to the situation in ancient Greece. This is because the relationships almost always involved men and boys under 18. In a modern context we would consider them paedophiles, not homosexuals- recall a few years ago the american "paedophile priest scandal", not "homosexual Priest scandal". The notion of "sameness" of their sex is made complicated because the boys are clearly being treated as a third sex, not men and not women.

As for marriage, the bond between men and boys could be a strong and enduring as any between man and wife. Of course it was expected that if there was sexual contact while the boy was still at "the age when boys are most beautiful" that this would stop as he matured and left such "childish" behavior in his past. Then again many modern marriages seem to lose sexual contact over time, so perhaps not all that different!