Images of Ancient Greek Pederasty: Boys Were Their Gods

290 Pages·2008·7.36 MB·English

by  Andrew Lear

IMAGES OF ANCIENT GREEK PEDERASTY

Greek pederasty, or paiderastia—the social custom of erotic relations between
adult men and adolescent boys—was a central characteristic of Greek culture.
Both Greeks and non-Greeks saw it, along with the gymnasium with its intimate
connection to pederasty, as markers of Greek identity. It is an important theme in
Greek literature, from poetry to comedy to philosophy, and in Greek art as well.
In Athenian vase-painting—in particular the painted scenes that decorate clay
drinking vessels produced in Athens between the sixth and the fourth centuries
BC—pederasty is a major theme: indeed, pederastic courtship is one of the
mortal activities most commonly depicted.
This lavishly illustrated book brings together, for the first time, all of the
different ways in which vase-painting portrays or refers to pederasty, from
scenes of courtship, foreplay, and sex, to scenes of Zeus with his boy-love
Ganymede, to painted inscriptions praising the beauty of boys. The book shows
how painters used the language of vase-painting—what we call "iconography"—
to cast pederasty in an idealizing light, portraying it as part of a world in which
beautiful elite males display praiseworthy attitudes, such as moderation, and
engage in approved activities, such as hunting, athletics, and the symposium.
The book also incorporates a comprehensive catalogue of relevant vase-
paintings, compiled by noted archaeologist Keith DeVries. It is the most
comprehensive treatment available of an institution that has few modern
parallels.
Eva Cantarella is Professor of Greek Law at the University of Milan.
Andrew Lear is Assistant Professor of Classics at DePauw University.
IMAGES OF ANCIENT GREEK PEDERASTY

Boys were their gods

Andrew Lear and Eva Cantarella

LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.

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© 2008 Eva Cantarella and Andrew Lear
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-86627-4 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN10:0–415–22367–9 (hbk)
ISBN13:978–0–415–22367–6 (hbk)
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When they asked the poet Anacreon why he wrote hymns to boys instead of the
gods, he replied "because boys are our gods."

(Footnote to an ancient edition of Pindar's second Isthmian Ode
(iii 213 Drachmann)
CONTENTS

List of figures
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Section 1 Textual evidence
EVA CANTARELLA
Section 2 The iconography of pederastic scenes
ANDREW LEAR
1 Courtship
ANDREW LEAR
Section 1 Courting-gift scenes
Section 2 Other courtship iconographies
2 Ideals/idealization
ANDREW LEAR
Section 1 Idealization through the portrayal of erastai and eromenoi
Section 2 Idealization through association
3 Consummation
ANDREW LEAR
4 Pederasty and the gods
ANDREW LEAR
5 Kalos-inscriptions
ANDREW LEAR
6 Vase dating
ANDREW LEAR
7 Fragments
ANDREW LEAR
Conclusion
ANDREW LEAR AND EVA CANTARELLA
Appendix
ANDREW LEAR (based on the research of Keith DeVries)
Notes
References
Index
FIGURES

0.1 Plaster reconstruction of the Tyrannicides, statue-group by Kritios and
Nesiotes. Rome, Museo dei Gessi.
0.2 Würzburg 241 (b-f amphora, Phrynos Painter, ABV 169.5 top, 688, Para 70,
Add2 48)
0.3 Providence 13.1479 (b-f small neck-amphora, Painter of Louvre F 51, ABV
314.6, Add2 85)
0.4 Munich 1468 (b-f amphora, Painter of Cambridge 47, ABV 315.3 top, 326.5,
Para 136, Add2 85)
0.5 Paris G 121 (r-f kylix, Douris, ARV2 434.78, Add2 238)
0.6 Athens 1357 (r-f kylix)
0.7 Munich 2656 (r-f kylix, Makron, ARV2 471.186, Add2 246)
0.8 Berlin 2292 (r-f kylix, Makron, ARV2 471.195, Add2 246)
1.1 Würzburg 482 (r-f kylix, Douris, ARV2 444.239, Add2 238)
1.2 Würzburg 480 (r-f kylix, Makron, ARV2 478.320, Add2 247)
1.3 Villa Giulia 50384 (r-f kalpis, Kleophrades Painter, ARV2 189.75, 1632, Add2
189)
1.4 Munich 2655 (r-f kylix, Makron, ARV2 471.196, 482, Add2 246)
1.5 Oxford G 279 (r-f kylix, Euaichme Painter, ARV2 785.8, Para 418, Add2
289)
1.6 Mykonos 966 (r-f pelike, Triptolemos Painter, ARV2 362.21, 280.18, Add2
222)
1.7 Berkeley 8.4581 (r-f skyphos, Lewis Painter, ARV2 974.31, Add2 309)
1.8 Ny Carlsberg 2699 (r-f kylix, Makron, ARV2 475.264)
1.9 Vatican 16560 (r-f kylix, Brygos Painter, ARV2 375.68, Add2 226)
1.10 Rouen 2318 (450) (r-f kylix, Douris, ARV2 441.187, Add2 240)
1.11 St. Petersburg 1440 (b-f lekythos, Pharos Painter, ABV 457)
1.12 Vatican 17888 (r-f neck-amphora, Harrow Painter, ARV2 272.4)
1.13 Oxford 1967.304 (r-f kylix, Brygos Painter, ARV2 378.137, Para 366, Add2
226)
1.14 London E 159 (r-f hydria, Phintias, ARV2 24.19, 1620, Add2 155)
1.15 Villa Giulia 50458 (r-f kylix, Ambrosios Painter, ARV2 173.5, Para 338,
Add2 184)
1.16 Bologna 436 (r-f kylix, Epidromos Painter, ARV2 118.11, Add2 174)
1.17 Boston 08.292 (b-f kantharos)
1.18 Paris G 278 and Florence Z B 27 (r-f kylix, Briseis Painter, ARV2 407.16,
Add2 232)
1.19 Malibu 85.AE.25 (r-f kylix, Carpenter Painter)
2.1 London W 39 (b-f amphora, Painter of Berlin 1686, ABV 297.16, Para 128,
Add2 78)
2.2 New York 18.145.15 (b-f amphora, Affecter, ABV 247.90, 691, 715, Para
111, Add2 64)
2.3 London B 153 (b-f neck-amphora, Affecter, ABV 243.45, Add2 62)
2.4 Boston 08.291 (b-f lekythos, Painter of Boston 08.291, ABV 92 top, Para 34,
Add2 25)
2.5 Paris, F 85 bis (fr. b-f kylix)
2.6 Boston 63.4 (b-f kylix, Painter of Louvre F 51)
2.7 Tarquinia 701 (r-f kylix, Cage Painter, ARV2 348.4, Add2 220)
2.8 Amsterdam 3460 (r-f kylix, Splanchnopt Painter, ARV2 893.38)
2.9 Boston 63.119 (b-f terracotta ball).
2.10 Copenhagen Nat. 3634 (r-f pelike, Tyskiewicz Painter, ARV2 293.51, Add2
211).
2.11 Bochum Univ. S 507 (r-f kylix, Makron, ARV2 1654 [472.206 bis], Add2
246)
2.12 New York 52.11.4 (r-f kylix, Douris, ARV2 437.114, 1653, Add2 239)
2.13 Boston 99.516 (b-f neck-amphora, Affecter, ABV 239.11, 690, Para 110,
Add2 61)
2.14 Musée Rodin 215 (r-f calyx krater, Painter of Rodin 966, ARV2 1449.6,
Para 492)
2.15 Villa Giulia 50535 (r-f kylix, Ambrosios Painter, ARV2 174.15, Add2 184)
2.16 New York 1979.11.9 (r-f kylix, Makron)
2.17 Paris G 45 (r-f amphora, Dikaios Painter, ARV2 31.4, Para 324, Add2 157)
2.18 Boston 10.178 (r-f Panathenaic amphora, Kleophrades Painter, ARV2 183.9,
1632, Add2 186)
2.19 Villa Giulia 50457 (r-f pelike, Geras Painter, ARV2 286.22, Add2 209)
2.20 Boston 95.32 (r-f kylix, Pamphaios potter, ARV2 128.19, Para 333)
2.21 New York 58.11.1 (r-f kylix, Lyandros Painter, ARV2 835.2 top)
2.22 Berlin 2278 (r-f kylix, Sosias Painter, ARV2 21.1, 1620, Para 323, Add2
154)
2.23 Würzburg 515 (r-f stamnos, Copenhagen Painter, ARV2 256.5, Add2 204)
2.24 Cabinet des Médailles 366 (r-f neck-amphora, Charmides Painter, ARV2
654.10)
2.25 Vienna Univ. 526a (r-f lekythos, Douris, ARV2 447.272, 426 Add2 241)
3.1 Richmond 56–27–5 (r-f kylix, manner of Douris, ARV2 450.24, Add2 242)
3.2 Location unknown, once Lord Guildford collection (b-flekythos, ABV 664,
Para 317)
3.3 Munich 2631 (fr. r-f kylix, Douris, ARV2 443.224, Add2 240)
3.4 Berlin F 1798 (b-f band-kylix)
3.5 Hamburg 1981.173 (r-f oinochoe, manner of the Triptolemos Painter)
3.6 Vatican 17829 (b-f amphora, Group E, ABV 134.30, Add2 36)
3.7 Toledo (Oh.) 64.126 (r-f kylix, Foundry Painter, Para 370, Add2 231)
3.8 Private collection (b-f hydria)
3.9 Turin 4117 (r-f kylix, manner of the Epeleios Painter, ARV2 150.35, 1628,
Add2 179)
3.10 Boston 95.61 (r-f kantharos, Nikosthenes potter, ARV2 132, Add2 177)
3.11 Berlin 1964.4 (r-f kylix, Pamphaios potter, ARV2 1700, Para 334, Add2
177)
3.12 Villa Giulia 121109 (r-f pelike, Euphronios, ARV2 15.11, Add2 153)
3.13 Heidelberg 67.4 (b-f neck-amphora, Timiades Painter, ABV 102.101, Para
39, Add2 27)
3.14 Orvieto 2664 (b-f neck-amphora, Tyrrhenian Group, ABV 102.100, 684,
Para 38, Add2 27)
3.15 Montpellier S. A. 256 (b-f neck-amphora, ABV 102.102, Add2 27)
3.16 New York 41.162.32 (b-f small neck-amphora, ABV 676, 714, Para 319)
3.17 Paris A 479 (b-f kylix, Amasis Painter, ABV 156.80, 688, Para 65, 90, Add2
46)
3.18 Berlin 2279 (r-f kylix, Peithinos, ARV2 115.2, 1626, Para 332, Add2 174)
3.19 New York 23.160.54 (r-f kylix, Douris, ARV2 441.186, 1653, Add2 240)
3.20 Karlsruhe 70.395 (r-f kylix, style of Douris, Add2 393)
3.21 New York 07.286.47 (r-f kylix, Hegesiboulos Painter, ARV2 175, 1631,
Para 339, Add2 184)
3.22 Munich 2410 (r-f stamnos, Painter of the Louvre Symposion, ARV2 1069.1
bottom, Add2 325)
4.1 Munich 2417 (r-f psykter, Pan Painter, ARV2 556.101, Para 387, Add2 258)
4.2 Boston 00.356 (r-f covered kylix, Cairo Group, ARV2 741, Para 413, Add2
283)