Sex between Men and Boys in Classical Greece: Was it Education for Citizenship or Child Abuse?

Abstract

For most of the past two thousand years no one would discuss Greek pederasty directly, and the innumerable references in ancient literature to erotic relationships between men and boys were ignored or suppressed. This situation has changed in recent years with the publication of important books about sexuality in the ancient world, but despite the openness of modern discussion, the question has yet to be raised whether Greek pederasty was good for the young boys who were the object of adult male sexual attention. Modern scholars have tended to accept without question or doubt the rationale of the ancient pederasts that their activities were beneficial to boys, that they were educating boys in the habits and ways of manhood and of citizenship. This paper explores sex between men and boys from the point of view of the child rather than the adult, drawing evidence both from ancient literature and from modern medicine to reveal how deeply troubling and damaging the pederastic experience must have been for many Greek boys.