On Pederasty in Ancient Greece

Pederasty is a type of homosexuality, which means the love and admiration of a man for a boy in ancient Greece. It flourished in Greece between the 6th and the 4th century B. C. and prevailed in noble and rich citizens. While pederasty was growing to be a vogue, ancient Greece developed a set of social rules between the lover and the beloved. Quite different from the modern signification of homosexuality, a gay in ancient Greece didn't exclude heterosexuality while in adoration with a boy. The active/passive contrast was the basic opposite form of sexuality in ancient Greece. It's because of women' s lowly status and fe-male citizens' isolation from the public sphere, the aspire after beauty and wisdom that pederasty could chronically prevail in ancient Greece. It enhanced army's combat effectiveness and functioned as an important educational instrument to train the male adolescents. Meanwhile, pederasty provided materials for the ancient Greek literature and art and created a condition for the great thinkers to put forward the theories of love. But, pederasty had a certain negative influence on gender relations between ancient Greek men and women.