According to Greek historian Victor Davis Hanson, there exists a widespread myth that a major component of Spartan military training included pairing soldiers (hoplites) and encouraging them to become homosexual lovers. In this way, so goes the reasoning, the soldiers would fight even harder to defend their lovers. The historical evidence shows that the Spartans did not instruct their youth to be homosexuals and did not train their soldiers to be homosexuals. The likeliest explanation for the myth is attributed to historical confusion/conflation. About 100 years after the Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.) and the heroic last stand of the Spartan 300, a select group of soldiers was organized in the Greek city-state of Thebes. The Sacred Band of Thebes was a troop of picked soldiers, consisting of 150 pairs of male lovers/bi-sexuals-homosexuals (300 in all) which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC. It was said to have been organized by the Theban commander Gorgidas in 378 BC and to have played a crucial role in the Battle of Leuctra. It was annihilated by Philip II of Macedon in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC.
A widely known Spartan symbol, adopted in the 420s BC, was the Greek letter lambda (Λ), standing for Laconia or Lacedaemon, which was painted on the Spartans' shields. The Greek letter lambda (Λ) was selected as a symbol by the Gay Activists Alliance of NY in 1970. In DEC 1974, the lambda was officially declared the international symbol for homosexual rights by the International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland. The lambda signifies unity under oppression. The homosexual rights organization Lambda Legal and the American Lambda Literary Award derived their names from this symbol.
Which led to the old joke, “How do they separate the men from the boys in the Greek Army? With a crowbar.”
I respect Hanson somewhat but his wording is misleading (if that is his wording). The Greeks did NOT think of homosexuality in terms of today-—so you are nonsensical (or Hanson is) when you talk about Greeks training their men to be “homosexual”.
That concept of today was created by German pederasts in the 1800’s who wanted to normalize homosexuality and man/boy sex in the late 1800’s in a Christian Europe. They founded the German Boy Scouts and lots of institutions to promote homosexuality, particularly in Germany. It became the “National Vice” of Germany by 1920. Officials would joke about watching your “back” if doing business with German politicians.
First of all, there was no sexual morality in Greece to speak of—in the Christian sense. They allowed men to woo boys and give them gifts so they would be “partners”. Even their myths-—Zeus and Ganymedes (the boy who was lusted after and raped)—are filled with man/boy combo-—and their art on vases,etc. Boys were the preferred recreation for sex. Men acting the submissive role was discouraged-—always—except maybe in the “Sacred Band of Thebes”. To group these as “bi-sexual” and “homosexual” is misleading-—those concepts didn’t exist in Greece. What did exist was a rejection of women—hatred for women (dehumanization of women)—much like you see in muslim countries.
The Greeks wanted men to marry women-—the concept of homosexual “marriage” didn’t exist because it was stupid——and offspring was essential for the cities-—but the “homosexuality” was so rampant because men were encouraged to select boys (trained in sodomy) because it was emasculating to play the passive/female role. When a boy reached manhood—they were NOT supposed to be treated like women and were encouraged to take boys for recreational sex-—but marry women and produce offspring.
The Greeks had to create all sorts of incentives to encourage men to marry women-—they enjoyed recreation with men and boys-—and were bored with women who were inferior-—just like in the muslim countries. Among all Greeks, the relationship of eromenos (passive/youth) and erastes (adult) was considered to be a normal thing. BTW, first sexual experiences are embedded in limbic area and determines preference/norm. it is why Chastity Bono prefers women-—she was raped by a Lesbian when she was 11. Same with Harry Hay—raped when he was 10 or so by a sailor and he loved it.
There was no such concept of “bi-sexual” “homosexual” in Ancient Greek....it is ridiculous to put 19th/20th century concepts onto the Greeks.
Spartans as homosexuals has always been a liberal myth.