That was dignity and worth for beauty. Beauty and harmony (perfection) were ideals of Ancient Greece.....men in that age were just as likely (actually MORE likely) to be in love with a beautiful young boy-—Read Plato. Pederasty and homosexuality were common and superior to heterosexuality.
http://www.livius.org/ho-hz/homosexuality/homosexuality.html
It’s hard to know what the average person thought in ancient Greece—the surviving literature comes from a tiny fraction of the population, mostly members of the elite. Men wanted sons and to carry on their families so most free men married (unless they were killed in battle too young). There were lots of female prostitutes. Probably for the average male most of his sexual activity over the course of his life was with his own wife, with the rest divided between prostitutes and adolescent males—but it isn’t certain that all men indulged in pederasty (it may have been more prevalent in the upper levels of society).